Mother Is God, Father Is Guardian
by NetherStray
Summary: So Pyramid Head showed up today. Not sure how or why, but he was an interesting house guest. Continuing chapters in the continuing epic of the best resort town ever.
1. Chapter 1: A Strange and Angular Visitor

Another lonely, boring weekday was passing in the house. I still lived with my mother, something I had felt a certain amount of guilt about, and was still unemployed myself. Being of age twenty, I ought to have moved on by now. But then again, I reminded myself of the fact that a lot of people my age were still living with their parents in these rough times. The number of people unemployed was still a bit staggering, too. Still, I felt the guilt. I guess that's why I wasn't as surprised as I could have been when he showed up.

He arrived with the characteristic dragging of metal and ripping of carpet. At first I thought I was hearing the cats getting into something, namely Gracie, that little troublemaker, but I soon realized that it was not quite the sound that our cats would make. I stood up from my swiveling leather chair, grabbed my cell phone and stuck it in my pocket just in case, and peeked around through the door frame. Sure enough, I saw him. With his pointy metal rustbucket of a hat and strangely colored kilt of some manner of leather, he was unmistakable as someone who could be nicknamed Pyramid Head.

I frowned, unsure of what to do. Was he here for me? Had he already seen me? Did he even have eyes? Surely he did. Otherwise, this was one heck of a coincidence for him to be stumbling through the house without knocking anything over. I glanced at my wood-sheathed katana leaning on the painted iron plant stand that, regrettably, didn't have any nice plants standing on it. To reach for the katana, I would have to step across my noisy wooden floor. On the other hand, with another glance back to the red pyramid thing, I noted that, yes indeed, he did have his great knife with him. Or was it more of a sword? I always thought it a bit long to be called a knife.

But I digress. Eventually, I took too long deciding what to do. He turned his iron-clad head in my direction and began staggering over. He was still a good distance away, on the other end of mum's beloved wicker sofa that she'd had since she was a teenager. He lifted his sword and/or knife, about to heft it onto his shoulder. However, his foot dragged tragically far, catching on the leg of the wicker sofa. The poor man tumbled to the carpet, groaning and "mrrf"ing in pain. I straightened up from the slight cower I had adopted.

"Oh, you poor thing, did you take a bad fall?" I stepped closer to him. The creature let out a few short huffs from inside his helmet, as though he were sobbing softly. He released the grip on his knife and/or sword, reaching down to his ankle. I shook my head, stepping around him. "You hold still. I'll go get the Ace wrap."

After first attempting to wrap Pyramid Head's ankle, then moving the sofa a tad forward, and then wrapping it successfully, I helped him to his feet. He towered over me, unfortunately, and I could do little more than act as a crutch in his armpit with my head. If I had been any less of a host, I would have complained of the fact that he quite obviously hadn't bathed in months, but my mother had raised me better than that. I helped him step over to the couch, taking short baby steps now that he only had one measly five-foot white girl to help him walk instead of the grounding weight of his knife.

After he was seated, I clapped my hands in front of myself. "So. Are you thirsty or anything?" Much to my surprise, he nodded. "Oh! Uh… Let's see. We have orange juice, water, of course, milk… I think we have some tomato juice, too, if you like that." He tapped the tip of his helmet as though in thought, then waved his hand in a circular gesture. "Orange juice?" He shook his head. "Milk?" He shook his head again. "Water?" He nodded with exuberance. I nodded in return, heading to the kitchen. "Big glass?"

With a resounding "Mmrh-hrrh," I took it as a yes, filling a large glass with water from the sink. As I stepped back into the living room, my eyes traced along the path his great knife had taken on the floor. The damage wasn't too bad, really; considering the shape our carpet had been in before, with damage from several previous owners, it didn't look much worse than it did before. I hesitantly held the glass of water out to him, curious as to how exactly a man with a metal-plated head would drink it. Strangely, he simply held the glass in his hand, lifting it to the underside of his helmet now and then. It would clank against the metal underplate, none of the liquid leaving the glass. I sat on the couch next to him, raising a brow at the unusual behavior. Still, I couldn't judge him very well. After all, I hadn't lived and/or been a zombie myself with a metal helmet grafted to my head. I cleared my throat, deciding to attempt conversation.

"So. Pyramid Head. Oh. First things first. Is that what you'd prefer to be called?" He shrugged. "How about PH?" He shrugged again, lifting a hand as well. "So is it okay if I call you that?" He nodded, again lifting the glass to the underside of his helmet. I smiled. It was almost cute in a way. He seemed to be simply pretending to drink the water. "So! Are you here for anyone in particular?" My heart sank as he pointed his fused fingers at me. "Ah. Is it about mum?" He nodded his metal head.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. "Wait, so that's all it takes? Guilt about just that sort of thing?" I leaned back on the couch. "It seems a bit strange to me. The others you've gone after have both at least killed someone. Doesn't my guilt seem kind of mild in comparison?" He tilted his head a few times, as if to agree. I smiled. "So are the other people just not feeling guilt about what they've done?" He nodded. "That's stupid. I tell you what, though. I'm probably not going to be doing too well myself once I finally have to leave the nest, so I'll probably end up punishing myself." I laughed a bit, partially from the silliness of an executioner being sent to punish a lazy kid but mostly just to lighten the mood and try to sway his current thoughts away from skewering me on a sword and/or knife. Luckily for me, he made a sound as I laughed, a sort of laughter of his own. It was an echoing sort of sound, a sort of "Hurr hurr." I smiled. This could actually work out okay.

After a while of sitting on the couch chatting and watching him "sip" his water, I got up and knelt on the floor. "Here, let's see how your ankle is doing." He groaned a bit, but nodded all the same. "Yeah, I know, buddy, I don't think it's doing better yet either. But who knows? We might find out how long it'll take based on how much better it's doing by now." He shrugged. I pinched his big toe area between my thumb and forefinger, giving his foot a nudge from side to side. The foot quickly flew at my face as he groaned and "mrrf"ed in pain, shaking his head quickly. I got up out of the way from it, nodding. "Right. Well, that'll take a while. Maybe we should see a doctor about this." The idea of going to see a doctor seemed to terrify him, as he dropped his glass of water and waved his hands in a negative gesture. "Why not? What's wrong with going to the doctor?" I tapped my chin. "I mean, sure, they'd be a little freaked out by you, but-" PH's metal head tilted forward. I soon realized that I had probably hurt his feelings. "Hey, now, I didn't mean it like that. People just don't usually run around in metal helmets and flesh kilts. That's all." He brought his hands up to the eye-I'd assume it to be the eye-areas of his helmet, making more of the sobbing sounds he had earlier. I rested one knee on the couch, patting his shoulder. "Come on, PH. If it helps, I don't think you're weird." He made an echoing sniffle noise, lowering his hands from his eye area of his helmet. "In fact, I could show you something that would make you really happy."

My father had bought me an iPad. Sure, a few of my friends had laughed at me for the strange nature of the product and the inherent stigma of owning an Apple product, but being a regular Apple user myself, I saw nothing wrong with it. It was this piece of technology that I brought over to PH on the couch, opening the web browser and going to deviantART. "See, this is a website where people post art. Or just things they like. But look…" I turned the iPad sideways and tapped the search field. I typed in the words Pyramid Head Cosplay and tapped the search button. "Look, you have a lot of fans. They try really hard to dress up like you." I lifted the iPad up for him to view it properly. He made a few odd noises from under his helmet, his head still as he apparently looked at the pictures that had shown up on the search results. "Say when I should scroll down and show you more of them." He nodded, gesturing down. I scrolled down the page, showing him costumes, drawings, even jewelry pieces all inspired by his appearance. His head tilted as he looked at them, pointing to one picture of a cosplayer in Pyramid Head garb standing in a field. He leaned a bit closer, hesitantly tapping the thumbnail with his fused fingers. He laughed his funny laugh as he realized the cosplayer was holding his great knife like a guitar, and that the words "Guitar Hero" had been added to the photograph. I smiled. "Yeah, silly, huh?" He nodded, waving his hand from side to side. I pressed the back button, then skipped to the next page of results. He remained in such a state during the duration of the viewing, giggling at some and shaking his head at others. All in all, it was a good time.

Eventually, though, we both got a bit bored with it. Granted, he was feeling much better about his current state. I looked at him a moment as he wiggled his fused fingers on his knee in a drumming motion. Pyramid Head was sitting right here in my house. The most recognizable and popular enemy in the Silent Hill franchise, who could probably answer any question I had about the series and his role in it, yet he couldn't speak coherently. "Say, PH?" He turned his head to me, nearly bashing my nose in. I lifted a hand to the hunk of metal, nudging it away slightly. "Ah. Careful there. So, anyways, I was wondering… Can you take that helmet off?" He sat there quietly for a while. I couldn't tell if he was thinking or if he was simply staring at me as though I had just asked a terribly stupid question. Perhaps I had. "Because, well… I saw in the game Homecoming that if you get the Bogeyman ending, you see the interior of it and it's covered in spikes… Is that how yours is?" He continued to stare. I blinked a few times, looking over in the direction I thought he was looking. Unless he found the china cupboard to be truly that interesting, I couldn't understand what was wrong. Maybe he wasn't allowed to tell me what the status of his helmet was.

Shortly, though, I found out what the problem was. He fell over onto the armrest of the couch, storing emanating from his helmet. I sighed, shaking my head. What a strange guest this was. I went to my room, picked out a blanket from my closet, and brought it over to drape over him. I considered lifting his legs and placing them on the couch properly, but I didn't want to nudge his ankle after the pain he had been in last time. Draping the afghan over him was the best I could do for him for now. With my house guest preoccupied with sleep, I was uncertain of what to do with myself. I didn't want to just leave him alone, since I was uncertain of what he would do once he woke up. I decided to simply sit on the wicker sofa, the thing that had brought this strange situation into being in the first place. I considered again going to get my katana as I eyed the great knife still laying on the carpet nearby. It looked a bit dirty, as though it could have used a good polishing. Strangely, I didn't see any blood on it. It was just dirty. I looked back over at PH. Sure enough, I didn't even have to look. He was still sacked out on the couch, snoring inside that echo chamber of his. I looked back to the sword, getting up and stepping over to it. I knelt down on the carpet, reaching a finger out to nudge it. If it was dangerous somehow, I didn't want to be messing with it. However, it felt like just another heavy piece of metal. I wrapped a hand around the grip. The handle was a bit moist and terribly cold, making my skin crawl from the sensation. I quickly let go of it, setting it quietly on the floor. Yech.

A few hours passed by, my time spent playing solitaire on my iPad. Occasionally, PH would snuffle and snort on the couch, and I'd glance up, expecting to see him sitting upright and stretching. However, it wasn't the case. He was apparently very tired. I sighed, shaking my head and turning off the screen of the tablet. This could take a while. Who knew? Maybe he had to get a full eight hours in. I got up and went to the kitchen, looking in the pantry at our selection of instant foods. However, macaroni, ramen, and Italian wedding soup didn't sound too appealing. I went to the fridge next, checking the shelves. Again, nothing looked very good at the moment. I sighed. There was a pot of chili on the porch, kept there in the cold air of winter in the unheated room, but I wasn't much in the mood for it.

Just then, I heard an echoing, groaning yawn from the living room. I walked back in, leaning on the door frame to look down at the couch. PH slowly sat up, hunched over. He sat like that for a moment, then swiftly lifted an arm and a hand to the armpit, giving it a good scratching. I giggled at the sight of him, acting like any other male upon waking. He looked over at me questioningly. It seemed questioning, at least, by the way his helmet was tilted. I shook my head. "Are you hungry?" He thought on it for a moment, then nodded. "Now, are you actually hungry, though, or are you just going to pretend like you did with the water?" He reached up onto his helmet, pushing open a hatch on it. It opened into the helmet, a round hole opened up. The sight that followed was strange, to say the least, and slightly sickening. A tongue slithered out of the hole, waggling in the air. It was quite long. I blinked a few times. "Oh. Okay, so you can eat?" He nodded, tongue still out in the air. I cringed a bit. "Alright. Wanna take a look at what we have to eat?" He nodded again, slurping his tongue back into his helmet. "Alright. Hold on a second." I strode over into my room, eyes glancing over my desk for a moment. Finding what I was looking for, I picked up one of my hats and pulled it onto my head. After applying the appropriate headgear, I walked over to the couch, offering my hands to him. He took hold like a Roman, gripping me around the wrists, myself doing the same. His skin was kind of chilly and felt akin to latex. I pulled him up, then positioned myself under his arm beside his bad ankle. "Alright, let's see if we can find something you like, eh?"

He didn't seem to be a fan of soup. Ramen wasn't his cup of tea, either. It took a while to figure out why he wouldn't like macaroni, and if I managed to glean anything from his grunts, gestures, and yes or no answers, it was that he and the beans in the chili wouldn't agree very well. I couldn't figure it out. What exactly would he eat, then? Sandwiches were out of the question due to his lack of teeth, or supposed at least, and he didn't strike me as much of a veggies kind of guy. He pointed back to the pantry, and upon us reaching it, looked around at the contents of the shelves. Suddenly, he thrust a hand out at something. I looked in the direction of his reaching arm, and lo and behold, there was a pack of apple sauce there. "Oh… Buddy, I'm sorry, mum keeps that to pack for lunch when she goes to work." He groaned, reaching more insistently. I sighed. "Alright, alright, I'm sure one cup of it won't hurt her budget that much…" I reached over and picked up the package of applesauce, managing to pull out one of the sealed plastic cups from the cardboard.

After making our way back to the couch to settle him in again, I began to peel back the tin foil lid. He surprised me, though, and snatched it from my hand. He peeled it back himself, then held it up by the hole in his helmet, his tongue extending and dipping into the cup of sauce. It pulled back in, then extended clean again to repeat the process. I raised a brow. "Well. Will that be enough for you or will you want more?" He waved a hand, shaking his head. "Oh. Okay. Just let me know if you're still hungry after that." I folded my arms, watching his strange eating process. I could probably have spent a month just learning how he goes about his day with that helmet on, but something in particular was curious to me. "Y'know, you seem pretty docile right now, if I do say so myself. No offense, of course. Is this just how you are when you're separated from your knife?" He paused, peering over at his knife. He shook his head. "Ah, so you're more like a regular guy with a kind of morbid job, right?" He nodded, pausing his nodding to slurp more applesauce. "Can you switch jobs or are you stuck with it?" A sigh came from his helmet as he shook his head. "Can't? That's weird. I'd go nuts if I were stuck with a job like yours." I paused. "Well… It's not like I have a job to begin with, I realize that." He grunted. "Yeah, that's kind of why you're here, isn't it?"

After a while of silence, I decided to turn on the television. I wasn't sure what he would make of it, to be honest, but I figured he had probably seen one before. Indeed, he was just as disinterested in it as I was, though nevertheless, we both stared at the screen as commercials flickered by. Surprisingly, an advertisement for the Slap-Chop came on, a product I thought had long since run out of its advertising days. Despite my expectations, there was Vince on the screen, demonstrating the varied and can't-live-without uses of the slap chop. PH seemed intensely interested in the advertisement, even mimicking the gestures of using the contraption, lifting and slapping down one of his hands. He looked over to his knife, then back at the screen. "Interesting piece of kitchenware, isn't it?" He nodded with enthusiasm. "Yeah. I watched this guy on YouTube on his cooking show. He bought one and tested it out. It actually works pretty well." I looked up at him. "Wait, do you like cooking?" PH shook his head, still watching the screen. I thought for a moment. "…Well, I guess if you fixed up a hallway to have that sort of design, you could just jump on it from above and never have to even look at your victim, eh?" He nodded quickly. I should've known that's what he was thinking.

Resigning ourselves to channel surfing, we perused the airwaves for something decent to watch. The SyFy channel had wrestling for some reason, so it was a bust. The History Channel ran some sort of UFO show, something PH shook his head at. "See many UFOs in Silent Hill?" He nodded. "Often?" I raised a brow. He nodded again. I hadn't anticipated the games to be replayed so often. "So where is Silent Hill, anyways? I thought it was in someplace like Pennsylvania, but in the movie it was in West Virginia." He shrugs. "I guess that's fair enough. They don't say the name of the state on the many maps in Silent Hill, do they?" He looked at me for a while. "Maps? Y'know, people who visit there always seem to find them." He tilted his head slowly. "Oh. You don't get to have maps, do you…" He shook his head. "Well, that sucks. I guess it's just so the people have a fighting chance, though." He sighed. I smiled. "Well, I'd say it's fair. I mean, you are trying to chase them around and kill them, aren't you?"

He turned a bit on his seat, lifting up one leg and digging into his flesh kilt's pocket. Much to my surprise, he pulled out a wallet. Even more to my surprise, he opened it up and showed me a stack of pictures. They were weathered and in terrible condition, but I could see the images on them clearly enough. A black-haired girl was in each one, never shown smiling. "Oh! Alessa?" I looked up at him questioningly. He nodded quickly, holding the wallet up to his heart and making a few muffled noises. "Aww, you're just trying to look out for her, aren't you?" He made more noises, nodding again. "That's sweet, PH. Gotta keep the bad people away, right?" He "hurr hurr"ed, nodding. "Well, that's great of you to do. I'm sure that helmet really sucks when all you're trying to do is keep her safe, right?" I lifted up a bit on the tip of the helmet, testing its weight. He must have had a very strong neck to be able to keep his head upright. "That's just not fair. Do you have any buddies helping you out?"

He lowered the wallet from his chest, looking down at it a moment, eventually shaking his head. "No? But who was the other one who helped you go after James?" A quick flick of his wrist turned the pages of photos more, revealing a picture of PH in between two different Pyramid Heads. They were different, with much wider helmets and of shorter stature. I recognized them as the ones James faced in the second installment of the series. "Ohh… Those are different guys, huh?" He nodded. "Were they just from James' imagination, though? Or do they actually hang around?" As he sat there staring, I realized the problem. "Oh. Sorry. From his imagination?" He nodded. "Ahh, alright. Were you guys buddies?" He nodded again, letting out a low, displeased groan. I tapped my chin. "So you miss them, don't you?" He closed his wallet, stowing it back in his kilt. He made some varied gestures, including simple speaking gestures as he continued to make noises, a pelvic thrust, and then driving a pretend spear into himself. "So they were… kinda hedonistic and…" He nodded, poking himself in the chest. "That's too bad. I think that happens to people who indulge too much, though. They end up losing it, y'know?" I thought back to just about every rock star I'd ever heard about. It was a strange thought, but I realized the Red Pyramid Things were probably more akin to The Who than to Charles Manson.

"So wait, you have to do all that by yourself, then? How often do people come into Silent Hill?" He began counting on his fused fingers, his list growing to both hands. "Wow. That seems like a lot. Do they come all at once?" He nodded quickly. "Well, PH, I tell you what. You still have to kinda punish me for my own guilt, don't you?" With another nod from him, I continued. "Here's what I'm gonna ask, then. Maybe instead of punishment, I could pay you back sort of for all the trouble this trip has been." He grunted questioningly. "I could maybe help you deal with all those guys over at your town." I wondered for a moment why exactly he had traveled all this way to my own town and thus left behind his responsibilities.

He eventually nodded, but pointed to his ankle. I got off the couch, knelt down, and pinched his foot between my fingers. "Alright. Let's check this first." As I wiggled his foot from side to side, he sat there quietly. "All better?" He clapped his hands together, nodding. "That's great! Here, let's try standing up." I offered my hands to him, pulling him to his feet. He was a bit wobbly at first, but soon he was walking around, his head down and watching his steps. He opened his arms in a "look at me!" fashion. I smiled. "Well! Should we get going then?" He nodded, stepping over to pick up his knife. I bit my lip. "Should I uh… wear something different? I look awfully normal." I gestured to myself, wearing blue jeans, a t-shirt, and foam rubber sandals. PH nodded, tapping the end of his helmet in thought. I lifted a finger. "Wait a second. I'll fit right in." I stepped into my room, closing the door behind myself.

As I stepped back out of my room, PH looked up from the seed catalog he had picked up off the table. I set my wood-sheathed katana on my shoulder, posing with a grin. Halloween that year had been pretty fun, as myself and a friend had dressed up as Silent Hill characters. I stood there in my tights and bloodied nurse outfit, tennis shoes on my feet and a nurse's cap in my hand. PH gave me a thumbs-up. I laughed, stepping over to him. "Here, I need you to help me out a second." I positioned the nurse's cap on my head. "Hold this still right where it is. I gotta pin it in place."

The trip to PH's home town was incredibly short, surprising me to no end. After packing some supplies in my medical bag and locking the doors, he led me to the back yard. It was a cold winter day, something I wasn't too happy about in my tights and short nurse dress, but I'd make do with it. As we stepped into the back yard, a thick fog rolled in. I looked around cautiously, but soon realized looking at my surroundings gave me nothing to look at except the increasingly thick fog. As soon as it had thickened to an opaque sheet around us, it dissipated, clearing up most of the way. My surroundings were different now. No longer did we stand in the back yard of my house in Indiana. Now, we stood on a crumbling road, near which was a broad wooden sign. I peered at the faded paint on it. Sure enough, the sign read "Welcome to Silent Hill."


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to Silent Hill

After reading a few interesting comments on a YouTube video, I had gone to Wikipedia one day to look into the details surrounding a town named Centralia. It was often referred to as the real Silent Hill, a town that had indeed inspired the movie based on the games. Now, I thought back to the pictures I had seen of that town as I walked along the crumbling road leading into the actual Silent Hill. Centralia was a town that had a real coal fire burning beneath it, a place that actually did have toxic fumes rising from below the ground, where some places weren't safe to live. The photos of the town showed abandoned buildings and hot, cracked roads, the heat from underneath causing the pavement to split and become veritable fire pits in the cracks. As I peered into the fog, I saw buildings in even worse shape than those I had seen in the photos of Centralia. Centralia still had a few stubborn residents. Silent Hill was living up to its namesake.

I glanced up at my guide, who had been quiet ever since stepping into the backyard of my house. "…So. Where do we go-" He lifted a hand for silence. I nodded, looking back to the town ahead. He made no move to step into the town, simply standing and waiting. I started to regret my decision to offer to help him. Maybe this was what he did most of the time. Didn't the main characters usually stumble into whatever place he was? Maybe he didn't actually move. Maybe he just teleported around through the fog the way he had in the backyard. Soon, however, my questioning thoughts were answered. The ominous siren pierced the air, filling my ears with dread. I always hated air raid sirens. I couldn't tell what they were at the first listen to them. They made me doubt myself, making me think I was hearing an animal or a car at first. I knew what was coming next, of course. Soon, the town would change into the Otherworld. It used to scare me to see the barbed wire and rusty fences everywhere, but these days when I saw screenshots of it, it only made me laugh at the pure silliness of it. Why all the fences and wire? What's with all the blood? Can't anyone learn to polish the rust off?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of running feet. I peered into the fog, still thick and white. Beside me, Pyramid Head gripped his knife tightly, beginning to drag it along the ground behind himself. I unsheathed my katana, strapping the wooden sheath against my medical bag as I hurried along beside him. It was surprising how fast he moved when he really wanted to. As we made our way through the fog, the sound of running feet grew louder. We were closing in! I would soon see the protagonist. Or maybe this was just a bit player, like Eddie in the second installment. The great knife dragging on the ground made a lot of noise, screeching and scraping along. He probably could have carried it on his shoulder. I grinned. He was just psyching the protagonist out.

The fog around us began to turn black, the spread of it as though someone had begun pouring food coloring into liquid. It was breathtaking, really. Of course, I knew what would be coming along with the darkness. Buildings on either side of the street creaked and whined, changing shape and composition. Ahead of us, I heard muttered curses from a male voice. The steps stumbled, then continued with more urgency, along with a loudly exclaimed declaration that the situation was absolute crap. I started to slow down in my own steps. The voice sounded familiar. I reached a hand out to PH's arm, bidding him to slow down. He looked over at me questioningly. "PH," I whispered, "I think I know this guy. I think he's safe." PH looked back to the protagonist, grumbling. I looked back as well, deciding to give it a shot.

"Josh!"

My ex-boyfriend now-friend Josh slowed down, turning around as he continued to stumble back in shock. He stared for a moment, lifting his piece of wood in defense, the nail hammered through it glimmering in the dimming light. His eyes darted from myself to Pyramid Head, then back to me. The board and nail lowered, his gaze suspicious. I nodded to him. "Josh. It's me." I grinned, sauntering over to him. "So you found your first weapon, eh?"

"Jane? What… Why are you wearing that? Does it work like camouflage against the other m-" He looked up at PH again, leaning in to whisper. "He's not as… homicidal as I was expecting. Do we run?"

I shook my head. "Nah, he's good. He dropped by for a visit earlier." I gestured to myself with my free hand, getting another look at myself at the same time. Yeah, the tights and garters were probably a bit much, but this was an Origins nurse costume. "As for this? I'm kind of hoping it does."

"You brought your katana?" He gestured to the $15 decorative katana I had bought at a flea market with him in Ohio. "I don't think you would need it with him on your side." He smiled nervously at PH. His expression amused me. Sure, he was excited to meet such a celebrity, but said celebrity had just been chasing him with a jagged piece of steel. "Where were you two going just now anyway?"

I looked back at PH questioningly. His expressionless metal head didn't give any answers. He certainly was starting to look much more red in the changing light of the town as it transformed into the Otherworld. Around us, buildings began losing their coats of brick in light flakes, floating away into the sky to leave behind wire fences and iron bars. The sheer normalcy that surrounded our conversation was strange, seeing as the world was literally ripping apart around us. I looked back to Josh. "Well… To be honest, I think he was here looking for you." I nudged PH's pocket, regretting it immediately as I remembered what his kilt was made of. "See, he's here to keep someone safe…" PH dug around in his pocket a moment, retrieving his wallet. He turned the pages of photos, holding it out to show Josh the photos of Alessa.

"You're here to protect her…" PH Pointed at Josh and grumbled from beneath his helmet. "Me? What about me… You're here to protect her from me? You think I'm out to get her?" The seven foot tall iron-headed man nodded, lifting his knife. "Woahwoahwoah! Wait! Haven't even SEEN Alessa-" He stopped, his face growing pale. "…Oh, crap." PH stepped closer. "Wait! I mean, I know of her, but I'm not here to hurt her!" PH stopped to ponder this.

My eyes widened as the scene played out before me. But this was no quicktime event! I could step in! Even still, I imagined it as a quicktime event and could just about see the button flashing to signal that it was time to hammer away at it with my thumb. "Hey, PH, calm down. You can trust this guy!" PH regarded me for a moment, awaiting what possible explanation I could have for slaughter not being the answer in this situation. I smiled at Josh. "This guy has gotten all the good endings on his first tries for every play-through of every game. He's a good guy." PH stared at Josh for a while, the Otherworld's red tones painting everyone in a hue as intense as the current situation. PH looked back to his wallet, pulling out a loose photograph. He held it out for Josh to look at. Josh squinted at it in the low light, trying to discern what it was.

"Oh." He straightened up, looking back to PH. "It's James." PH held the picture closer to him. "Yeah. Definitely James." The picture was shoved even closer to his face. "Alright! I see it!" PH grumbled at him again, pointing at the photo then pointing at Josh with his latex-like mitt. "Are you confusing me with him? Is that why you're after me?" PH reached out to Josh's head, ruffling his hair and grabbing a handful of the straight blonde mess. "Ow! Hey, what the hell?" Josh glanced at the photo again. "Ohh, I see… But I'm not James! I'm Josh! I just look like James!" PH stepped back and proceeded to look him over. "Look. See? I have glasses. James did not. Also, I've never killed my spouse. I don't even have one! You've got the wrong guy!" PH shoved Josh's head away, grumbling with discontent.

"But wait, didn't James leave Silent Hill? I thought everything going on with him was resolved." PH shook his head, beginning his stomp along the street, his knife dragging behind him. "PH?" I trotted to keep up with him, Josh hesitantly following as well. "Hey. What happened to James?" PH stopped, whipped his angular head in my direction, and made an angry gurgling noise. I backed up a bit, lifting my hands in surrender. "Okay, sensitive subject. I'll leave it at that." With visible irritation, our metal-headed guide turned, stomping forward again. Josh and I looked to each other. "Josh," I whispered, "what were all the endings for Silent Hill 2?"

Josh dusted his hair back into its smoothed down position, lifting a hand to list on his fingers. "Well, there was the good one where he makes peace with Mary, the one where he leaves with Maria, the dog ending, the UFO ending…" He scratched his head. Ash had begun falling from the sky, dusting us with a light coat of it wherever it could cling. "There are a couple bad ones, too. One of them, he doesn't make peace with Mary, so he drives into the lake. The other one…" He bit his lip. I supposed when speaking with him outside of such an area about the various endings of a video game, it wouldn't have troubled me as much as it did. However, realizing that this place was subject to the endings and characters of Japanese horror video games, I was a little nervous.

"Josh?"

He blinked, then finished. "Well… The other ending is when you play the game over again, y'know, a second play-through ending. James decides to try to resurrect Mary with the help of the gods of Silent Hill."

I stared at him for a moment before grabbing him by the arm, running to catch up with Pyramid Head. Now it made sense. I had simply assumed the good endings were canon. Finally remembering my time spent perusing the Silent Hill Wiki, though, I realized that the second game had no canon ending.

Not until now, that is.


	3. Chapter 3: Don't Wake Daddy

In the most urgently nerdy of conversations outside of a Star Trek convention, Josh and I discussed the possibilities of our current situation. We knew for sure that the second game had happened, and had come to some manner of decision of what the ending must have been. Unfortunately, we couldn't assume much else from that; the second game was irritatingly disconnected from the other games in the series. "Maybe what's canon is what happened in the movie. I mean it's pretty obvious that Alessa exists, even though she didn't play any part in the second game, and the Order too, probably, if our guess about the ending is right." I looked over at Josh, still striding to keep up with Pyramid Head's long, trudging steps. Thankfully, the guy had the manners to heft his knife up onto his shoulder instead of dragging it on the ground. "Or would it? Is Silent Hill just… just like this without Alessa or the Order?" I looked up at the glowing red sky, squinting to keep the ash from my eyes. "This all just looks a lot like Homecoming, though…" I blinked. "Hey, wait. We don't have a flashlight. Or a map."

Josh paused, looking around. "Oh. Hey, there we go!" He trotted over to a nearby sidewalk, bending down to a piece of discarded paper on the rusty metal walk. As his fingers neared the map, an echoing roar shattered the air. Both of us looked over to its source. Pyramid Head was on the war path, storming towards us, his knife glinting red in the dim light. Josh straightened up, backing away from the map. "Woah, hey, calm down, I just-" With a swipe of his arm, our metal-headed friend yanked him off his feet, hoisted him onto his free shoulder, and gripped him by his ankles, continuing on down the street. I glanced down at the map, deciding it was better to leave it alone.

As we continued through the town and after eventually convincing PH to set Josh back on his feet, the fog world began to seep in through the cracks of the Otherworld's wire and rusted grating, much like paint rising through a stretched wire screen. As the fog rolled back in, I looked up at the building we had stopped in front of. The sign was neon and flickering. I was amazed it was even still turned on at all. Of course, the nature of the establishment could have had something to do with its upkeep. With the consistency of a candle in a stiff breeze, the neon sign read Heaven's Night. PH set Josh down on his feet, stepping over to the door. He slammed a fist three times on it, echoing across the streets. A soft shuffling sounded from inside, the frosted glass of the doors offering no clue as to who or what was inside. Nevertheless, the doors unlocked, and PH stepped in. Josh and I looked at each other a moment, uncertain of if we should step in as well. Keeping with his usual habit, though, Pyramid Head answered the question for us, grabbing both of us by the arm and yanking us in. The door slammed shut behind us.

After the expanses of white that made up the fog world, my eyes took their sweet time adjusting to the dark interior of the club. For a while, all I could see was another neon sign on one wall, a sign with an image of a naked woman and the word "Paradise" beneath her. It must have been an important place to someone to keep electricity running. Soon, I realized there were many other moving shapes in the club. After a while more of adjustment, our eyes finally registered what was moving around in the club, sending us both to our backs against the doors.

It was full of monsters. As they grew clearer and more defined, we found ourselves surrounded by monsters of all sorts. Lying figures stumbled and hobbled closer. Nurses gave off huffing hisses, lifting scalpels to the air. Bubble head nurses, puppet nurses, both kinds prepared to operate on our unfortunate selves. Grey children waddled closer, looking up at us from their three foot tall statures. Mannequins, closers, numb bodies… The sheer variety of them was impressive enough without even mentioning their numbers. Josh and I were speechless. Not from awe, however. We were much too busy fearing for our lives to start questioning why all these creatures were in one place.

Pyramid Head was nearby, grunting and grumbling in turns with another shadowy humanoid creature. Unfortunately, he seemed oblivious to the fright being experienced by Josh and I. It would have been terribly rude of me to interrupt his conversation. After all, it could have been important, maybe even life-saving information.

I'd already been a good host today. It was his turn. I reached over and yanked on his kilt, regretting touching the thing yet again, but easily getting his attention. He turned his head, looking over at Josh and me. The two of us jabbed our index fingers repeatedly at the group of monsters. If there was anything I hoped was true to life from the games, it was what happened next. Josh scooted back further against the doors, exclaiming the most sacred of crap. I lifted a hand to my face, shielding my eyes. Oh, I wasn't just squeamish. I mostly just didn't want the bloodbath that ensued to get in my eyes.

If the blade could be described as screeching when dragged on the ground, it positively screamed when sailing through the air. In huge swaths, the great knife swung from side to side like a pendulum, spraying blood, spilling guts, and ripping cries of pain from the gathered creatures who had gotten too close. I tore my eyes from the carnage to the humanoid PH had apparently been speaking with. Strangely, even after my eyes had adjusted to the dark, I couldn't make out his face. As PH's enraged swings finally subsided and silence overtook the room, I realized there was soft music playing in the club, some sort of easygoing jazz piece. The humanoid stepped closer, his steps casual and bouncing slightly to the beat of the music.

The closer he came, the better an idea I got of his appearance. He was the same dirty, bloody coloration of flesh as the other monsters, but seemed to be clothed. On his shoulder, I noticed a strange tattoo, similar in design to just about every magic circle I had ever seen in fantasy settings of elves and mages. The creature extended a hand, offering to shake with me. Similar to Pyramid Head, his fingers were fused, seeming somewhat grotesque, as though acid had melted his flesh together. However, it was when I saw his face up close that I recognized him. It was not the recognition of the features of his face, however, but rather the lack of understanding what his face looked like as it constantly vibrated and twitched.

"Valtiel…" His hand lashed out, gripping mine and squeezing tightly as he shook it vigorously. Before I could panic, PH's echoing laugh sounded to my left. I smiled nervously. "U-uh. Hello."

"Hello!" I stared at the supposed attendant of god, uncertain of just who had made the noise that had just come from him. He leaned in a bit closer, head still twitching. "Hell-o-u."

My lips parted in confusion and wonder. This was a guy with no eyes, nose, ears, or mouth. He was looking right at me and giving me a friendly greeting, albeit with a hint of a French accent. Even weirder. I nodded quickly. "Oh! That was you! Sorry!"

He nodded and twitched with enthusiasm. "Yes indeed, it was me. I must say, it's been many years since I spoke with a mortal. Don't you feel special?" I raised a brow. He lifted a hand, shaking it from side to side. "Ehh, nevermind." He released my hand, stepping over to Josh and offering to shake again. "How about you! You, blonde one, do you feel special?"

Josh blinked at him blankly. "Uhh…"

I elbowed him. "Josh," I hissed, "this guy talks to God. Say something."

He quickly nodded, grasping Valtiel's hand in a swift grip. "I'm God to meet you." He shook his head. "Er. God to meet you." Clenching his eyes shut and wincing, he tried again. "Ahh… Good to meet you. NICE to meet you!"

I rolled my eyes. Honestly, he could look at Pyramid Head without flinching, but not this guy? Valtiel didn't seem to care, though. He shook Josh's hand with glee, nodding. "Yes! Yes, perhaps you two will do. Tourists, as it were." Valtiel strolled a short distance away, hands clasped behind his back. "You must understand, we have seen many come through here. However… They have come faster and more frequently than ever before as of late." Upon reaching the wall of the club, he continued walking, now standing on the wall. "You two seem to be interested in the town, no? Tourists!"

"I guess…" I bit my lip. "But what is it that's going on? We're not even clear on the history anymore…"

Valtiel nodded a bit amidst his constant twitching. "It is strange. One arrived here upon word from beyond the grave. He found his answers, and then strove for more."

"James…" Josh muttered to himself. "You're talking about James, right?" he said, this time loudly enough for Valtiel to hear.

"Yes, the very same. He stayed longer than he should have. He was greedy. He called upon me years later with a demand." Valtiel continued his stroll, now standing on the ceiling. "I would not have listened if it weren't for his hostage."

"What sort of hostage, though?" I looked over to Josh. "I mean really, who would you care about? We only know you from when you had some sort of role with-"

"Heather Mason." Valtiel opened his arms in a certain amount of reverence. "The reborn. Who would have become the Holy Mother. Who still holds the key to ushering God forth."

I saw Josh's head drop forward a bit. "What? He's got Heather?" He seemed to have a startled, perhaps even painful reaction to this news for whatever reason. I looked over to Pyramid Head, who had been strangely still and even quieter than usual. He sat at the bar, his knife rested against the counter, his head facing the wall of bottles. I looked back to Valtiel.

"But why can't you just go save her yourselves? What's stopping you?"

"What indeed…" He shrugged, striding over to us. "The tourists, they have been unhelpful. They die too soon to find out. The one in the church has found a way of keeping all of us out." The disintegrating, plush satin ceiling creaked under his steps. "You two. You don't seem so stupid." One of his hands lashed out, flicking me in the nose. "Weak, yes, but not stupid."

I folded my arms, thinking for a moment. "Just hold on." I turned to Josh. "Okay. What do you think? Should we go for it?"

"The church? We could, but what do we do once we get in there? Better yet," He looked to Valtiel. "What can we expect once we get in there?"

Valtiel shrugged. "You ask me? After I tell you none of us can get in?"

Josh turned to me. "Fantastic. This could be risky…" He hefted his makeshift weapon. "I mean, I've got a board with a nail in it, and you've got a katana… We may need some firepower." He looked at the floor, nudging the carpet with his toe. After the thoughtful nudge, he looked back up at me. "It occurs to me that I've never had to use a gun before. Have you?"

I frowned. "Shit. No. And James definitely has experience with a gun." I rubbed my head. Why had I even suggested this to PH? I supposed the alternative wasn't quite favorable, but was this much better? "Damnit… Damnit damnit damnit." I sighed heavily, looking back to Valtiel. "Look, we may be experienced, but this isn't going to be easy to take James down. I mean really, he's survived this town for years, from what you've said."

"That may be true. But perhaps the battle is one that merely requires…" He lifted his hands to his sides, extending one foot forward. "…a foot in the door."

Josh leaned in close to me, and whispered so not to embarrass himself in front of God's messenger. "I don't get it. What does he mean?"

I shrugged. "Well… Let's think. Okay, so we've got James, we've got Heather, we've got Pyramid Head…" I peered over at the metal-headed man. "Well. He's more the Bogeyman version, though. Or the movie version." I shook my head. "Anyways. So that's the first, second, third, and… What was Homecoming again? Fifth?"

"Right. Homecoming is fifth, and The Room is four. Origins is 'zero,' but it's also the sixth and… do we count Shattered Memories? If so, then that's seven…" He hesitated. "Where was I going with this?" He shook his head. "Well. I was just thinking. We've gotta be ready for whatever this town throws at us…" He shivered a bit. Just like so many other times, I could see the gears turning in his head. It was a thought I shared as well. We would not only have to stand all the jump scares of the series, but the monsters themselves.

I shook my head. "Well… Whatever the order is-" I lifted a finger. "And for the record, Origins had a kick-ass soundtrack," I nodded. "If you take care of the lying figures, I'll off the twin victims if they show up." Again, I looked over at Pyramid Head. He still sat at the bar, head low and facing away. I gave Josh's shoulder a pat, stepping past him and Valtiel as he continued to stand on the ceiling. I gingerly stepped over the piles of dead monsters, looking around at the others as they clung to the shadowy corners of the room. "Hey. PH." He didn't turn his head to look as I leaned on the bar, but he did give me a grunt of attention. I looked down his narrow helmet to the end. There on the bar, clutched in his hands, was his wallet, opened to the photos of Alessa. I shook my head, patting his shoulder. "Big Daddy's lost his Little Sister, hasn't he?" PH looked up at me questioningly. "How'd you like to come with us?" I bit my lip as his gaze turned back to the wallet. "We could use the muscle, PH. Josh and I aren't very strong."

"I guess you'll just have to wait for us to figure out what's happening in the church before you can get in though…" Josh lifted his hands helplessly, fingers grasping the air. "I know the last thing you want to do is stand around doing nothing, but…" He shrugged slightly.

Pyramid Head sat at the bar quietly, still staring at his wallet pictures. He lifted it up from the counter, pressing it to his chest. With a stiff grunt, he stood up from the bar, reaching out and yanking his great knife to his side. I grinned. "Remember what happened to your buddies, PH. Remember who his hostage is!" The great creature hefted his sword onto his shoulder, his grip like a vice, the moist handle sweating the blood of too many kills to count. With his left hand clenched in a fist, he leaned back, releasing a heavy, echoing roar. Josh and I quickly covered our ears, the air breaking into a veritable quake. The bottles on the shelves behind the bar trembled, some of them falling to shatter on the floor. Even Valtiel fell off the ceiling of the club, landing on his back. I giggled at the sight, clapping and bouncing a bit next to PH. He pointed his fused fingers at the door, storming towards it.

Josh and I grinned at each other, stepping over the slain creatures and puddles of blood. "Woah! Hey, wait for us!" Who needed guns? We had a Pyramid Head with a grudge.


	4. Chapter 4: Character Selection

Through a good amount of finagling on my part, I had convinced PH to let me take a look at his wallet. However it was only through the miracle of growing accustomed to the smell of the object that had inhabited his kilt pocket that I had been able to take a look inside. His photos were large in number, all of them merely small snippets, seeming as though they had been cut from larger photographs. The photos all had a sort of damp texture to them, bending from their own weight when I pulled the loose ones from his wallet. There were all sorts of photos, from simple head shots of famous visitors to everyday objects. I did my best to keep them in order as I sifted through them, my feet walking themselves to keep up with the two boys. As I picked through what apparently were the only personal possessions of PH, I came across one of Heather Mason. "Hey, Josh. Didn't you tell me once that she's your favorite character?" As I raised the photo to show him, PH whipped around with startling speed, snatching the wallet and photo away. Grumbling echoed in his helm as he slid the photograph back in the wallet and the wallet back in his pocket. Josh and I still weren't sure what to think of this guy, but we both hoped it would get easier at some point. Really, we were supposed to rescue Heather when the most innocent action could set off our main weapon? It didn't seem very feasible to me.

Speaking of our knife-happy companion, he stopped abruptly in front of us. Josh and I bumped into him, looking up at him questioningly. PH's free arm lifted, pointing to something to our right. Josh and I looked over. There on the ground was a piece of folded paper, a flap of it waving lazily. I looked to Josh. He shook his head. I rolled my eyes, stepping over to the paper to get a closer look. "It's a map." I blinked. "Wait, so you didn't want us picking the other one up, but this one is okay?" PH stepped over as well, squatting down in front of the paper. Never one to be left out, Josh quickly stepped over.

PH made a few noises as though speaking, tapping the ground next to the paper with his fused fingers. He then pointed to me, to Josh, and then to himself. Realizing that we had no idea what he had said, he sighed, setting his knife down. He made more gestures this time, speaking more slowly. He pointed to me, Josh, and himself again, this time pointing to the map next. He lifted his hands and wiggled his "fingers," lowering his hands as he wiggled them. Next, he pointed to his knife and patted his wallet pocket. With his gestures and his speech complete, he nodded, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. He looked to Josh and me seeming expectant. Josh and I stared at him. His head sank, one of his hands smacking against it.

"Wait, wait, I think I get it." Josh lifted a hand. "I think whoever picks it up is who has to lead." PH nodded quickly, giving Josh a thumbs-up.

I blinked at him a few times. "How the hell did you get that?" He shrugged. "Well… Who wants to lead, then?" Josh coughed, looking at me. I shook my head. "Hey, no, come on. I've never even played the games. I always just watch you!"

"Yeah, but you spend all your free time on the Wiki, don't you?" PH made a questioning noise. "It's a website," Josh explained. "Besides, I don't even have a proper weapon. A piece of wood with a nail through it? I don't think it'll cut it. It'll probably break in two swings."

"Oh, come on, my katana isn't even very sharp. Besides, I'm not really dressed for the occasion."

"Well, yeah, but… I dunno. Maybe we can find you some better clothes."

"I still don't wanna lead." I nudged my glasses up to the top of my nose. "Besides, who knows what we'll find in my version of the Otherworld?"

"Would that even happen, though? Doesn't Valtiel control that?" Josh peered down at the map. "I mean, we're trying to help him, aren't we? I don't think he'd put us in the Otherworld if we're trying to do something for him."

"I hope not…" I looked down at the map. It was a pretty unassuming piece of paper, really, with a low-budget design and a welcoming photo of Toluca Lake on the front. An awfully simple bit of tree pulp to be making such a fuss over. I sighed. "Look, I'll take it, if you guys think I should." I looked to Josh. He frowned, eventually nodding. PH turned his head to me. "Should I?" He looked back to the map. Hesitantly, he nodded. I took a deep breath, releasing it as I stared at the map. "…Okay. I guess we picked a character." I reached down, picking the map up from the pavement. I unfolded it, opening it to its full size. Josh and PH leaned forward to look as well. As PH leaned forward, his low level near the ground and the direction of his lean resulted in his helm scratching against the ground, making a horrid noise. He fell back onto his behind, holding his head and crying out. Josh and I winced, stepping over to help him up. "Here, let's uh… Let's look at it from this angle." Once we were all standing, I held it up at arm's length, turning it to show the other two. "Where are we going, PH?"

Pyramid Head leaned in to the map, his thumb tracing along the streets for a moment. He lowered his hand, staring at the map. Josh and I looked to each other, then to PH. "Well? Any ideas?" PH nodded, pointing to a gas station. He then pointed up in the air. Josh and I looked up and sure enough, a busted Texxon Gas sign sat atop a metal pole. "Oh. Okay, our current location." I reached in my bag, retrieving a red pen and put an X on the gas station. PH nodded, then dragged his pointing "fingers" across the map to the other side of town. He tapped a location. I nodded, marking it with another X. "Alright. So we're going to…" I peered closer at the tiny black text. "St. Stella Church." I looked over to Josh. "What the heck is over there?"

Josh raised his brows. "Maybe that's where Heather is." He looked up at PH. "Is she there?" PH shrugged, reaching down to pick up his knife. He hoisted it onto his shoulder and set off at a brisk pace, beckoning us to follow. Josh and I nodded, catching up.


	5. Chapter 5: Let's Go To Church

The trip to the church was bound to be a long walk, seeing as it was halfway across town from where we were. To try and lighten the mood, I started singing. Josh laughed, but PH sang along somehow once I got to the chorus. Well, he didn't really sing, of course, but he sort of grumbled and echoed along with it. After the song was done, I turned around, walking backwards. "PH, do you like Kaiser Chiefs?" He made a questioning noise in reply. "That's who wrote the song we were singing!" With an "Ahh" noise, he nodded, giving me a thumbs-up. I smiled. "I love 'em. They're a British group. I'd love to make a video game someday, and if possible, use their music in the soundtrack."

PH looked to Josh, tilting his head in question. Josh looked back at him, blinking. "Video games. You don't know those?" PH shook his head. "Oh. Well, it's like an interactive… TV show. Y'know? Where you play a game that takes place on the screen." He adjusted his hat. "Y'know, that's kinda strange. You're in a few video games, PH, but you don't know what they are?" PH stumbled a bit, seeming surprised.

"Well. Maybe we're all just in some video game or story of some sort. I mean really, we're in a town that until today we thought was just fiction, aren't we?"

"That's true. Even if you do talk about it non-stop, here we are."

I grinned. "Hey, didn't it pay off that I have nothing better to do than obsess over it? I'm betting it'll come in handy at some point. I mean really, it's good that I did. My knowledge of World of Warcraft sure isn't coming in handy…" I turned back around, looking ahead to the dilapidated buildings and foggy expanses before me. I heard a cough behind me. "Oh, do you have your allergy meds with you, Josh?"

"That… wasn't me." As the coughing continued, the three of us whirled around, looking behind ourselves. Hobbling on shaky, charred legs, its exposed lungs glowing bright as coals behind a cage of undulating, finger-like ribs, the creature drew closer, precariously balanced in its undoubtedly uncomfortable walk with no arms to help its balance.

I reeled back, readying my katana. "Smog!" Josh and PH readied their weapons, the dreaded great knife and valiant nail-in-a-board gleaming. The Smog continued to hobble closer, seeming to be in no particular hurry, but definitely focused on reaching us. It coughed more, puffs of black smoke escaping its glowing, gaping mouth, its head turned in a permanent upright position due to the thick, charred boils on its twisted neck. "Shit, we don't have any ranged weapons-" Before I could finish my worries, Josh let out a mighty yell, his voice cracking halfway through, and let loose a major league swing of his board at the Smog's head. PH hefted his knife to his shoulder, taking two strides to close the distance between himself and the stumbling creature, and slammed the great knife down into the Smog's shoulder, slicing clean through its body, all the way down to its lower waist. Before either could celebrate their quick victory, thick, acrid smoke billowed out from the corpse, threatening to smother them both in a layer of coal dust. Both of them quickly backed away, PH waving his hand quickly by his head and Josh pulling his hoodie over his nose and mouth.

"Ugh!" Josh stumbled over to lean on PH, who himself was breathing rather heavily and echoing just as much. "That shit is rancid!" He held onto PH's arm for a good while, coughing once. I stepped over to the two, nodding to them.

"Good job guys. That was-"

Josh shook his head quickly, stumbling away further from the corpse. He bent over, his hands holding onto his knees, politely facing away from PH and I. For a long while, he stayed in that position, taking slow, shaky breaths. I looked up at PH, making sure he was alright, then looked back to Josh. Finally, he stood up straight and rested his board on his shoulder. He turned around, muttered "That was disgusting," and nodded to me.

Our run-in with the Smog finished, we turned and continued on to St. Stella Church. It was a long, tiresome walk, a walk that ended in one dead end and a long, round-about journey to reach the building, but we finally made it. The structure was somewhat new, looking as though it were built in the early 80's. After stepping up to the doors and finding them securely locked, I looked to PH. "Any chance you could bust this door down?" He climbed the steps and tested the door handle in one hand, his ever-present knife held tightly in his other. He grumbled a few garbled words, giving the door a hard shake. The man gestured to Josh and me to step back and give him some room. The two of us got off the steps, down to the sidewalk to watch from below. "Josh." I nudged his arm. "I think he's gonna do the thing he always does."

Josh blinked at me. "The thing?"

I nodded with excitement. "Yeah. Y'know, the thing he always does with doors."

Josh smiled wide. "Ohh!"

The two of us waited in nerdly excitement, waiting for Pyramid Head to do his characteristic move. He hefted his knife from his shoulder, raising it with one hand, his arm twitching as it strained only slightly with the weight. He reared his arm back, then thrust the blade mercilessly into the quarter inch gap between the door and the frame, rattling it on its hinges. Josh and I cheered and clapped, excited just to see the movement itself.

Which was lucky, since the doors didn't open. PH made a questioning noise, shaking his knife around a bit in between the doors. He yanked it out, then slammed it in again. The doors shook and shuddered, but stubbornly stayed put. Repeating the process several times, each time more angered than the last, PH eventually yanked his blade out for the last time, stomping away from the doors to sit angrily on the church's stoop, his knife laid across his lap. I quickly climbed the steps, giving PH a pat on his shoulder. "Hey, you did a good job, PH. Don't worry." He sighed. "We're probably just not doing it right, that's all. Maybe we have to find a key for it."

"Or maybe," Josh chimed in, "we need to find a different route." He pointed to the sidewalk. Not far from the church's steps was a grate in the walk, rusty and resting on hinges. "Think we should try this?"

PH and I stepped down to the sidewalk, peering down into the grate. "…Josh. That's a drainage tunnel down there."

"Yeah."

I looked at him in disgust. "Oh, come on, I really don't want to go into the sewer!"

He sighed, crouching down to get a grip on the grate and pull it up. As if to spite me, it opened with no more protest than a squeal of rust being scraped off the hinges. "Well. It looks like we're supposed to go in." He gestured to the steel ladder protruding from the wall descending into the tunnel. "Ladies first…"

I bent over, peering down into the sewer. The water was still, but the smell was formidable. It lazily wafted up to our noses, hinting that the sewer was in some sort of use. I reeled back, shaking my head. "No. Just no. I'll wait outside or something." I looked up at PH. "Come on, you don't wanna go in, do you?" PH looked down at me, shrugging. "Oh, come ON!" PH laughed, pointing down to the sewer, then giving me a thumbs-up. "Pyramid Heaaaaad," I whined, "I don't have proper socks on… Or boots or anything…" I looked into the hole in the sidewalk, then back up to the metal-headed man. "Could you do me a favor?"

Pyramid Head managed to climb down the ladder first, his head held to the side to avoid catching on the ladder. As he looked around, knife ready, I climbed down next, reaching the third to last rung of the ladder, then motioned PH over. Josh watched from above as I turned, wrapping my arms around PH's neck and sliding my legs around his waist. "Oh, come on, you're being a wimp."

I grinned up at Josh. "Yeah, but I'm not gonna get wet." Josh rolled his eyes, smiling all the same, then tossed his board to PH before climbing down next. Josh stepped into the water gingerly, his water-tight work boots keeping his ankles dry. He looked up at me.

"Jane."

"Yes?"

"It's only like three inches deep."

PH turned his head, grunting. I looked down at him from my perch on his back. "Am I too heavy?" He paused, then shook his head. I nodded. "Mind if I stay put, then?" He shrugged, causing me to shrug as well. I smiled. "Cool. I'll stay put. Let's go about finding a map."

On we went, trudging and sloshing into the sewers of Silent Hill. Josh walked ahead, being much lighter on his feet than PH currently was with my own added weight. PH didn't seem to mind, though; he trudged along at the same speed he normally walked, regardless of the weight. To make up for the fact that I was taking up space on his person, I offered to hold onto PH's knife for him. PH had shaken his head, though, speaking a few unintelligible words in seeming polite refusal. "Y'know, PH, I admit… You're a lot more civil than I ever expected you to be." He grunted in question. "Well, y'know, usually we've only known you to chase people around with a knife. You're a pretty nice guy, I'd say." He shrugged a bit. I grinned. "Or does it depend on the person?" Ahead of us, Josh stopped. He backed away slowly, gripping his board in both hands. "Josh," I whispered, "What's wrong?"

"There's… something in the water."

I blinked. "God. I hope this isn't an Amnesia crossover."

The nice thing about Silent Hill, I'd found, was that we were never kept guessing for too long. Sure enough, out of the water ahead, a great amount of ripples formed, the waves crashing against us. I clung tightly to PH as he readied his knife, lowering into a defensive stance of bent knees and wide-spread legs. With a burst of water, three monsters shot up out of the water at us. Their bodies were sickly and pale, their legs humanoid but fused together. They had no real faces to speak of, save for the vertical slits full of jagged teeth that covered their heads from forehead to chin. Most menacing, however, were their hands; metal claws grafted to their knuckles, any fingers they might have ever had long since gone. The claws were long as reaping sickles and twice as sharp. They were yet another friendly face from Homecoming: the monsters known as Lurkers.

PH raised his knife quickly, Josh ducking under his arms as the great knife bore the weight of all three Lurkers. They screeched and howled at us, their bodies hanging from their claws that were now stuck on the knife. Josh lashed out quickly, smacking and stabbing with his board and nail, given an excellent opportunity to dispatch them quickly and easily. The creatures fell back to the water with one shake of Pyramid Head's knife, twitching and screeching. PH drove the knife through one of them while Josh gave the other two a good final whack with his board. Leaving the dead Lurkers behind, we hurried onward into the sewer, making quick decisions as to where we should go. Coming across a flashlight hanging from a hook on one of the tunnel walls, Josh hung it around his neck, turning it on.

It was a decision immediately to be regretted. In what had to be the strangest combination of monsters so far, what with the Nurses, Grey Children, Pyramid Head, Smog, and Lurkers, we now saw before us a very plain, very simple-looking fleshy monster, humanoid in appearance, faceless and featureless, called a Raw Shock. As it had in Shattered Memories, it screamed in a deafening high pitch, signaling three others to attention. The four monsters started their stumbling, ungainly runs toward us. "Ah, shit!" Josh looked around, eventually pointing off to the left. "Door!" We made for the door as fast as we could, Josh's hand grabbing onto the door's handle and jiggling it roughly. "I-I think the lock is broken-"

"Oh, like HELL it is! PH! Knock it down!" Obediently, PH charged at the door, bashing it open with his head like a battering ram. As PH stumbled inward and while I pressed my hands against his helmet to try and stop the reverberation, Josh ran in after us, slamming the door behind us. Bodies smacked against the door, crying out in rage and indignation. Josh pressed his weight against it, bracing his feet on the floor. The flashlight swung against his chest, creating a near strobe light effect, its movement slowing as the situation eventually calmed again. As the cries of the Raw Shocks faded and ended, Josh rested his ear against the door. With a nod, he looked around, finding a length of pipe and wedging it against the door handle. I looked from him to PH, who was definitely not in fighting shape. He held his free hand to his head, his knife's tip resting on the metal grate floor. We were above the water now, a few feet in fact. I slid down PH's back, setting my feet on the grate to get a look at him. "PH?" He groaned, slowly lowering himself to one knee. I patted his shoulder. "Thanks, PH. You saved all of us, y'know." He nodded slowly, his hand still set to his head. I looked around at our new surroundings. The corridor was small, only about the required width to let workers pass through easily, and the grating covered the floor.

Josh backed away from the door, confident that the pipe was holding it shut. "Okay, so… There are Lurkers, which we basically have to fight, but there are Raw Shocks, which we can't fight."

"Can we really not fight them, though? In that game, you don't really get any weapons."

He shook his head. "Cheryl says it. You can't fight them."

"I wonder, though… Does that game even count? I mean, really, in that one, Cheryl grows up and Heather never even exists, really."

Josh looked back at the door, then back to me. "Well. I'm sure if you ask, the Raw Shocks will explain what's canon."

I sighed, looking around. "C'mere, flashlight guy." Josh stepped over, pointing the flashlight down the corridor. About ten feet away, we saw another ladder, pin points of light streaming down onto it from the manhole cover above. With a cheer of glee all around, we hurried over to the ladder, Josh heading up first. He tentatively lifted the metal disc, peering around. When the coast was clear, he pushed it aside, climbing out. Embarrassed as I was to be wearing a short dress and garters, I climbed up next, promising PH that I would turn his helmet backwards if he snuck a look. Finally, it was PH's turn. He climbed up almost to the top, but stopped suddenly with a metallic "thunk." Josh and I looked down at him from above, realizing the problem. "Okay, PH…" I knelt down by the manhole. "Lean your head back as far as you can and point it up at the exit." As he did so, I took hold of the point of his helmet, guiding him up safely past the pavement. "We'll try to avoid tight spots from now on."

Josh stretched his arms a bit. "Well! That wasn't so bad, was it? I mean we already got the sewer level out of the way. Not too shab-"

I slapped a hand over his mouth, holding it shut. "…Josh. Don't jinx it." He blinked at me, then lifted his board and nail, knocking on the board a couple times.


	6. Chapter 6: Breaking and Entering

Out of the sewers and back in the fresh, foggy air, the three of us looked around. Far down the block, we saw the church that we'd failed to gain entrance to. The sign on the building in front of us was dilapidated and old, just like everything else in the town, but still partially readable. Before us stood the South Silent Hill Fire Station. Strangely, dim light shone from within the building.

Josh frowned. "Well, we've traveled a good distance from the church at this point…" He looked down to the church, biting his lip. "Probably not worth turning back." PH shoved Josh's shoulder, shaking his head. Josh stumbled a bit, but looked up at him. "Hey, we're going there eventually. There might be a key for the place somewhere."

I unsheathed my katana, making sure the sheath was secure on my bag. "Yeah, but where?"

Josh pointed to the fire station. "Lights are on in the fire station. Should we try it out?"

I bit my lip, trying to think of what sort of monsters could lurk inside. Most likely some more Smogs. Still, we had dealt with the one earlier without much of a problem. I nodded to him. "If the door's open, we'll try it."

Josh shrugged, climbing the three steps up to the door of the station. He paused for a moment, his hand on the door. "Something's in there…" PH and I drew closer. Sure enough, faint noises emanated from the building, barely audible. Josh looked to us. "Get ready." PH and I gripped our swords at the ready, nodding to Josh. In a swift motion, he pulled the door open, prepared for anything that would step out. When nothing did, he looked inside. "…Looks clear." PH and I climbed the steps, peering into the station. The atrium of the fire station was empty, home to nothing more than a few wrecked chairs and a broken reception window.

"What were the noises, then?" I stepped into the station, PH behind me. Josh followed close behind, looking around with curiosity. Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind us, the force of moving air pushing Josh forward into PH. I whirled around, startled. "Josh, what the hell? Why'd you-"

The slow, droning cry of the air raid siren pierced the air. We all looked around, expecting to see the room slowly fall apart. Much to our surprise, it held together. Instead of falling apart, it looked as though it was growing around us. I glanced around, spotting a table, miraculously still standing on four legs. Displays of brochures sat atop its surface, their faded pages reading of insurance suggestions and safety tips. Another lay off to the side from the displays. I grabbed it, recognizing it as a visitor's map, backing away as the table succumbed to the growing material of the room. The room continued to be covered in a white substance, glassy in appearance.

Josh glanced around, his board held tightly in his hands. "The hell is… Is this ice?"

The temperature dropped in the room, drawing shivering from myself and poor, shirtless Pyramid Head. "I-I think so," I managed, holding my katana in one hand as I wrapped my arms around myself. "Fuck."

The ceiling, lit by a single light fixture, slowly became covered in the ice, frost creeping over the light itself, dimming the room considerably. The only door of the room fell victim to the same problem, ice coating it in a thick layer.

"Ohh, this can't be good…" Josh stepped over to the door, prodding the ice with his board. "Feels like… Four inches thick. Something like that." He backed away from the door. "Okay… Great. So Silent Hill has frozen over. Hmm…" He thought for a moment. "If Shattered Memories taught us anything, it's that we can't turn around. Let's find a door or something that hasn't frozen over…"

I nodded, heading to the reception desk. A small teller hole was left open in the ice, its window otherwise covered by the thick, translucent covering. "Josh." I beckoned him over. "What do you think of this? Think this is anything?"

Josh headed over, looking to the frozen window. "I don't see anything else around here worth checking out." Josh leaned in to take a peek into the window. "Uhh… Stand close to me."

"Why?"

"Just in case something grabs me from the other side."

I nodded, wrapping my arms around his waist and setting a foot against the window's ice coated wall. "Alright. Ready when you are."

Tentatively, Josh reached in, his arm reaching around a while. "Ah!" I gripped him harder, then blinked as he didn't get jerked forward. "Got something!" He pulled his arm out, dragging a heavy wrench out of the window. "Here we go…" He hefted the wrench a few times in his hands. "This may come in handy… I mean, eventually. Now… Where do we go from here?"

I looked around. "Your guess is as good as mine." My eyes came to rest on a wall of the room. It was as blank and frozen as the other walls, but something about it made me uneasy. I stepped closer to it, giving the ice a prod with my katana. Though it was hard as glass, it still squeaked from the metal scraping it. "This is ridiculous. Usually we at least get some sort of… I dunno… Option."

As Josh stepped over to me, a red stain began to spread behind the ice. He stopped in his tracks, watching the stain as it traveled in thin lines. Pyramid Head stepped over, rubbing his arms in the chilly air. The stain spread further, taking shape. The shapes formed into words. I squinted, reading the words through the refraction of the ice.

_Behind you_

The three of us whirled around, just in time to watch the ceiling collapse. The dust barely got the chance to settle before a thundering monstrosity barreled through at us. Running on feet and arms, it was covered in black leather straps, from the ends of its bulbous arms, up covering its face, all the way down its body and to the creature's ankles. As the ape-like monster thundered toward us, we quickly sidestepped, allowing it to run into the wall. I stared at the creature as it recovered, raising my katana. Something was different about it. Seeing it from behind, I realized just what it was.

"What's that?" Josh called, his board and nail at the ready. PH charged at the beast, hefting his knife and throwing it down like a guillotine at the monster's back.

"It's a Siam!" I replied, yelping and leaping to the side as Pyramid Head sailed by, thrown back by the Siam's wide arm. "Just-" I slipped, falling on my behind on the slick floor. "Just try to keep your distance! Catch it off guard if you can!"

Josh nodded, watching as Pyramid Head raised his knife in defense, the Siam charging at him yet again. Ice shards fell from the ceiling, dust pouring down from where it had collapsed. With his cap guarding his eyes from the debris, Josh darted out, aiming a strike from his board and nail into the Siam's head. The nail buried deep and the Siam roared in indignation The creature strangely was different from the ones seen in the games; usually, they had a female figure bound helplessly to their backs. This one was bare backed, its leather straps torn and coated in dried blood. I thought back, keeping my distance as the boys did their best to deal with the creature. The Siam had been a symbol of the helplessness Alex Shepherd's mother had felt, the limp female figure bound to the raging, animalistic male figure's body. But this wasn't right. There was no symbolism in this anymore. Now, it was just an angry beast.

Pyramid Head struck at the Siam's neck as it turned to Josh, drawing its attention away yet again. Its neck nearly severed, the creature roared in pain, collapsing. It continued to twitch and shudder, screeching and howling. Josh slammed his board and nail into its head one last time, killing it for good.

I stared down at the dead monster, trying to figure it out. A Smog, some Lurkers, Raw Shocks, and now a Siam without the whole purpose of its design? I threw my katana to the floor. "This is the stupidest, most canon-raping version of this town I've ever seen!"


	7. Chapter 7: Memories of Ice and Flame

Our run-in with the Siam complete, we looked up at the ceiling, deciding if there was any way out of this frozen, locked-up room, it was there. I climbed up onto Pyramid Head's shoulders and he stood up to full height, allowing me to peek around the floor above. With the go-ahead from me, he lowered himself to his knees again. With Josh's help for balance, I stood on PH's shoulders, apologizing as he grunted in discomfort. I reached into the floor above, climbing up with PH pushing up on my feet.

"Alright, Josh, you next!"

Josh climbed up onto Pyramid Head's shoulders next, hanging onto the tip of his metal head for balance. As Pyramid Head straightened up, elevating Josh to the next floor, Josh reached out for my hands. Tragically far, though; he leaned forward too far and got a pointed piece of iron in the worst of places. Josh doubled over, holding on for dear life to PH's helmet as PH lowered down again.

Once Josh and I were both up on the second floor, it was PH's turn. "Hand your knife up first, PH." He looked at me, then down to his knife, clutching it tightly against himself. "Oh, come on, you big baby. Do you wanna climb up here with that in your hand?" PH whimpered, stroking the blade. I sighed. "Alright. We'll try your way first." Josh and I reached down, taking hold of PH's wrists. He held onto his knife in his right hand, grunting a bit as we tried to haul him up. Whatever weight he may have had without his helmet seemed as though it were surely doubled with it, not to mention the knife. After trying to pull him up a few times in this manner, I shook my head. "Nope, nope, hand it over! Come on!"

PH hesitated a moment, holding his knife to himself like a treasured stuffed animal. He murmured a bit, giving it a stroke before handing it up. I took hold of it, set it aside, and reached down again. "Alright. Let's try it again." Our next attempt worked fine, PH hauled up easily to the second floor of the fire station.

The second floor was just as frozen as the first, with the addition of being horribly dark. Worse, though, was the sound we heard. Radio static was evident, fluctuating with every move we made. Josh switched on his flashlight, turning about to try and find out the threat that the noise brought to our attention. I watched the ray of light, trying to spot the radio. Usually it was orange, maybe green, and should be easy to spot. Easier, though, should have been the monsters. Where were they? I spotted the radio, running out to grab it from the iced table it sat on. Josh kept the light trained on me as I held the radio in my hand, peering about. "What's… Where are they?"

I shook my head. "I don't know… Maybe the Siam still isn't dead yet." I walked back over to Josh and the battle-ready Pyramid Head, glancing down the hole in the floor at the dead monstrosity. The closer I got to my companions, though, the louder the radio screeched and wailed. I frowned, stopping. I held it close to Josh. The static didn't change much. I then swung it over towards PH. I thought the radio would just about explode from the static it was putting out. PH tilted his head questioningly. I gave the radio a good look, changed the channel, and the static stopped. Josh raised his brow. I shrugged.

The room we had entered into was quite large, full of furniture. The furniture appeared to be bunk beds and night stands, if the shapes were any indication. "Where the firemen slept," Josh noted, aiming his flashlight around. "Hey. Maybe there are some spare clothes here!" I smiled. The thought of looser, warmer clothes was a welcome one. As we searched the room, however, I quickly lost hope. There were none to be found, unless they were under the ice somewhere.

After leaving the positively useless room, we made our way to the door, opening it carefully. Somehow, the door wasn't frozen shut, and we could step on through. With Josh leading the way, being the guy with the flashlight, I followed close behind, PH following after me. I could hear some sort of vibrating coming from his helmet, akin to the chattering of teeth. I glanced back over my shoulder to him. "You alright there, PH?" He made a shaky sort of noise, his arms wrapped about himself. He had managed to wind his belt around his knife handle, dragging it behind himself. Luckily the ice gave way just enough that it didn't screech. "We'll see if we can't find a sweater for you. How's that sound?" He snorted. "Yeah. Kinda silly. Maybe we can find something to fight. That'll warm you up, right?"

The hall was long, lined with several locked and broken doors. Josh and I took turns trying the knobs, saving our hands from too much of the chill. I carried my bag against my hips, keeping my hands tucked inside it as long as they weren't needed. I wished I hadn't thought to wear the costume. It was a stupid idea. Very stupid. "Damnit, it's so fuckin' cold!"

"Shoulda picked a different outfit."

"Why're you dressed so warm, anyways?"

Josh tried another door. "Well, it is winter." He shrugged. "Or it was when I ended up here. I dunno. I was on my way to photography class when…" He thought for a moment. "Wait, so… Yeah. I was walking across campus, y'know, to the art building, when a train went by. I remember hearing the horn… And then I got a headache… But then when I opened my eyes, here I was. Pretty much it."

"Oh, so you have your camera with you?"

He gestured to a door. "Yeah. It's under my hoodie." I reached over to the door, trying the doorknob. Remarkably, it turned. The three of us stepped in, looking around the dim room. The reflective sheen of the ice met us in different shapes than before, a series of cylindrical objects lined up against the wall. I stepped in further, gesturing for Josh to aim the light at them.

"Looks like a bunch of valves." I grinned. "Cool! A puzzle!"

Josh nodded. "Yeah… A puzzle that our lives depend on."

"Well, a puzzle is a puzzle. Let's look at this…" I peered closer at the valves, making note of the gauges on them. Josh watched expectantly, aiming the flashlight at each I directed my attention to. PH continued to shiver and rub his arms, huddled close to Josh.

"Well? Any idea?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. There should be a clue around here…" I started looking around, seeing nothing on the walls except a blank piece of white-painted metal behind the ice. "Y'know… This all looks like Shattered Memories, so maybe we should try it like in that game." I dug around in my bag, finding my cell phone. After pulling it out and unlocking the keys, I turned on the camera, aiming it at the metal plate. Sure enough, I saw some sort of shapes in the viewing screen. I snapped the photo.

The ice began to melt at a startling pace, bits of the walls falling apart as well. We all looked around as the room began to grow warmer. As the ice melted off the room's single window, I saw the building next door had a fire escape leading to its roof. "There!" I pointed to it. "That's how we'll get into the church! Through the roof!" I stepped over to the window, attempting to pry it open. No use, though, as I reeled back in pain and astonishment.

"What's wrong?" Josh hurried over. "What happened?"

"The window… It burned my hands…" I stared at the window, watching the paint slowly peel off and reveal charring that had begun to spread behind the paint. Slowly, flames rose from the window's boards. Not just from that, though; the room around us was likewise becoming engulfed in flames. I bent down low to the floor, opening the picture I had taken with my phone. "Josh. Help me figure this out!" He peered at the photo as well, and after figuring out a puzzle that would have taken me minutes to figure out (which we didn't have at our disposal), Josh stood up, the wrench in his hands, turning the valves in the proper directions. After the last had been turned with PH's help, water began to pour from the sprinklers in the ceilings, dousing the flames. I watched as the fires died down around us. "I wish they had been so easy on my house," I remarked. "They just kept spreading…"

"So this was just… This was just your memory. Wasn't it?" Josh raised a brow at me. PH peered over, grunting questioningly.

"I guess so." I looked over to the valves. "On the day of the house fire… The firemen kept saying that the valves were freezing up. It was like the coldest and windiest day of January." I furrowed my brow. "But I was helpless that day. This time, I actually got to do something about it."

Josh folded his arms. "Silent Hill has a way of personalizing to what a person has going on in their head. Jane, how much baggage do you have?"

I winced. "…A lot."


	8. Chapter 8: Here Comes the Bride

Many more strange and unsettling things were bound to happen in Silent Hill, but luckily, some things were just as they were in the real world. Like gravity for instance. After dealing with another Smog that had shown up in the dorms of the fire station, we all dropped down to the first floor. The thawed door opened easily and we filed out, marching around the building's side to the neighboring building's fire escape. After that, it was a quick and easy climb up the escape to the roof of the building.

Movies tend to make everything look easy, though. We soon found that alleys in between buildings are actually quite wide and take a good running start to leap across. Still, four buildings later, we were on the church's roof. We carefully inched our way to the edge of the building, leaning over the edge. The tall windows were of poured glass, giving the image seen within a warped, ethereal look. Pyramid Head stayed behind, his metal head too cumbersome to risk leaning over, so he held onto his smaller companions' ankles to ensure we didn't fall. "See anything, Josh?"

Josh held onto his glasses, squinting. "Someone's in there… Someone large."

"Heavy?"

He shook his head. "No… Looks pretty slim. That's not a normal-sized person, though." He grimaced. "Must be a monster. I don't see any clothes." I tried to move my head in the proper way to see the figure, but to no avail. Josh scooted over instead, pointing in. I raised my head upright for a moment, giving my blood time to drain from my head, then looked out under the gutter into the window again.

As Josh had said, there was a figure inside. Pews lined the space, the figure seated on the altar area of the sanctuary. Something was on its lap. Something dark. As I watched, it made flailing, child-like motions. The figure pulled the small dark shape closer to itself, apparently hugging it. I blinked. "…It has some sort of thing with it. Looks like a kid." I smiled. "Oh! It's a larval stalker! Y'know, the little squeaky ghosts from the first game?"

"Ahh, yeah," Josh confirmed, "the ones from the elementary school. They run away when you shine the flashlight on them."

I giggled a bit, watching the little squeaky ghost on the figure's lap continue to flail. My giggles subsided. The creature moved less and less, my smile fading completely as the little ghost began flailing urgently instead of playfully. "It's…" I watched in stunned horror as the ghost's arms collapsed against its translucent body. I got up quickly. "It just strangled the ghost." Pyramid Head growled, releasing our ankles and grabbing his knife. He stood up, stepped to the edge of the roof, and knelt down, gripping the gutter in his hand. Before Josh or I could say anything, he swung over the edge, the sound of a window shattering soon following, his landing shaking the roof. Josh and I looked to each other. We looked over the edge again, pressed up against each other as we looked through the same window.

Clearly now, we could see Pyramid Head approach the figure, now standing. It was definitely female, standing at the same height as the great punisher of Silent Hill. As clearly as we could tell its gender, though, it was difficult to make out its face. It had features, true, but they never moved. As the creature backed up, it hissed, its mouth never moving. Pyramid Head strode closer, his knife dropping from his shoulder and striking the wooden floor. He began to genuinely struggle with it, hauling the weight with one arm as the other twitched and flailed in short arcs at his side. The female creature backed away further, disappearing into the shadows of the church. As PH dropped to one knee, I looked over to Josh. We nodded to one another, swinging over the edge one after the other as PH had done, landing on one of the pews. We hurried over to PH, keeping an eye out for the other creature, uncertain of what to think of all this. PH shuddered and shook, his breathing shaky as it echoed through his helm.

I bit my lip, giving PH's shoulder a nudge. "Hey… What was it that happened? Can you tell us?" His helmet dipped forward, the tip of it meeting the floor. Soon after, he collapsed on the rough, musty carpet. I yelped, kneeling down next to him. "Pyramid Head?" I gave his shoulder a shake, but it was no use. He was out cold.

"Holy crap…" Josh hurried over, a book in his hand. "What the hell could be nasty enough to take Pyramid Head out? Did that monster do this?" He frowned. "And if so, how? I mean it just ran off!"

I shook my head. "I really don't know…" I squinted at the book. "What's that?"

He held the book out to me. "Oh, right. I found this Bible. Some of the pages are marked." I took the book in my hands, checking the cover. The black, faux leather cover bore the gold words Holy Bible. "I figured it was worth checking out." I shrugged, sliding my finger along the edge of the pages, dividing them from the ribbon to open the book to the marked page. I peered in at the text.

"This is a wedding ceremony." I blinked, reading the text again. "Yeah. These are wedding vows here…" I looked down at Pyramid Head, then back to Josh. "So some monster strangled another monster and left a bible behind?"

Josh nodded. "That's… unusual. But in this place, certainly not unexpected. This has got to mean something."

I looked at the Bible, then back to Pyramid Head. "Maybe…" I paused, then laughed. "Wait, do you think monsters marry?"

Josh stopped, a grin spreading on his face. "Uhhm… Maybe?" He chuckled. "Can you imagine a church full of Nurses and Numb Bodies and Smogs?"

I sat down on the floor, smiling. "Yeah. That'd be pretty weird." I blinked, watching a red streak spread on Josh's face. "Josh? You're bleeding." I pointed up at him. "Right there, on your right cheek."

"I am?" He lifted his hand to his face, smearing the blood a bit and blinking at his bloodied fingertips. "How the-I don't remember cutting myself or anything…"

I shook my head. "Here, I have some bandages." I pulled my bag open, looking down into it. "Right here, next to the…" I stared into my bag. I pulled out a brown bottle. "…Health drinks?"

Josh raised a brow. "Something wrong?"

I sighed. "Oh, come on! I packed some friggin' Fritos, too!" I dug around in the purse some more. "Weird. The applesauce is gone, too."

"Maybe real world food just doesn't exist in the Otherworld."

I pouted. "Damn. Well… Here are the bandages." I pulled out a white box from the bag, handing it to Josh. "Be careful, though. I get the feeling it's single-use."

"So… What're we gonna do about him?" Josh motioned to PH, who had been lying motionless ever since he collapsed.

I shrugged. "Well… He did sort of fall asleep at my house. But he snores. He isn't right now, so maybe he's unconscious altogether." I sighed. "Maybe we should just stay put here."

"I guess I could use a little break." He wiped at his cheek, handing the first aid kit back to me. "We'll just have to keep our guard up."

I looked around the church. "Last time he was asleep, I played solitaire to pass the time." I looked down at the Bible. "…I guess we could read or something."

"Alright. Not like there's a whole lot else to do."

I opened the Bible back up, sliding my finger to the corner to turn the page. I quickly realized, however, that the pages would not budge. "They're all stuck together…" I frowned. "They couldn't just copy and paste the Bible into this?" I grinned. "Lazy designers."

Josh gave me a held-back grin. "What did I tell you about questioning video game logic?"

I laughed, closing the Bible. "Right, right…"


	9. Chapter 9: A Letter from Lost Days

It didn't take long at all for Pyramid Head to wake up, sitting up with a jolt of energy, looking around quickly. Josh and I, who had been sitting beside him, got up and offered him our hands to help him up. He accepted, pulling himself up on us. After we'd decided that Heather probably wasn't in this church, we stepped out through the front doors, descending the steps and checking the map to decide our next move. There weren't really any other churches in the area, so our next option was to make our way up to the northern side of Silent Hill, known as "old" Silent Hill. Onward we trekked, discussing the current situation as we went.

"So not only do we have to deal with the Otherworld, but we also have this… freakishly large woman to deal with." Pyramid Head grunted in agreement. "And PH is powerless against her for some reason. Still no idea why?" He shrugged. I frowned. "We'll have to figure that out. I get the feeling she's kind of like the butcher. Y'know?" I shifted my bag on my shoulder a bit, carrying my sheathed katana in my left hand. "We only see her to begin with, and she introduces herself by killing another monster. Just like the butcher did."

"Maybe." Josh pulled his hat off, smoothing his hair out. "Still, she isn't quite the same. She doesn't carry any weapons or anything, y'know? How'd she get PH to collapse?"

"Maybe she's psychic." The three of us continued on through the town, taking a different route through a broken fence and a city park to circumvent a break in the road. We managed to scale the rest of the fence and make our way back towards the gas station. I paused as we passed it, peering down the street at Heaven's Night. "Y'know… This would all probably be a lot easier if we didn't have to go into the Otherworld." I looked to Josh and PH, who nodded in agreement. "Let's see if Valtiel's still there. See if we can't get some sort of deal out of him."

After trying the front entrance of Heaven's Night and getting no answer, even from Pyramid Head's special knock, we checked the map and realized an alley ran behind the building. We circled around, stepping carefully around overturned trash cans and a suspiciously rumbling dumpster to reach the back door. Still, the knocking got no response, the door was locked, and the great knife couldn't get it open. Pyramid Head pulled his knife from the door, resting it on his shoulder with a shrug. Josh stepped over to the door after the great knife had been removed, picking at something in between the door and the frame. I raised a brow. "What's that?"

He shook his head, still picking. "Something's stuck in between… Looks like a note or something." His ardent picking paid off as the note slipped out from the doors, falling into his hands. "Wait, you're the main character, aren't you?" He held the note out to me. "You open it."

"Me?" I shook my head. "But you found it!"

He shrugged. "True enough." He unfolded the note, smoothing it out a bit while he cleared his throat. "'My dear husband. It's been so long since-'" He paused, holding it out to me. "Nope. Written by a lady. You'll read it properly."

I smirked, taking the note. It didn't look too old, seeming as though it had just been left there. Still, the ink ran in places as though drops of water had spread it around. "'My dear husband. It's been so long since I've seen your face without those contraptions on it. I wish I could pull them off for just a second to kiss you, but the doctors told me it would only hurt you.'" I paused, glancing to the two boys. It was a somewhat embarrassing job to read a love note to them, but I'd seemingly been elected. I squinted at the writing again, lifting my glasses. "Um… Oh. 'I pray every hour that you'll miraculously recover, but I feel like no one's listening. Maybe I'm just praying to the wrong god. Julia keeps telling me about the church she's been attending, telling me that it's different from the others in town. I'm going to give it a shot. Anything to have you back to yourself.'" My eyes traveled down the page. "'I love you…'" I squinted. "Eh… I assume that's his name. 'It would mean the world if you could stand again, if you could hold your daughter for the first time. With all my love…'" I shook my head. "The rest is blurred and illegible." I turned the note over, checking the back only to find it blank. "Well. Whatever this is about, I think it might have something to do with the Order."

Josh nodded. "I'd wager that, yeah. That must be the different church she was talking about." He raised a brow. "Maybe there's an entrance around here!"

"Well, but wait, wasn't the church thing in Old Silent Hill in the first game? Y'know, the antique shop?"

"True." Josh frowned. "I doubt the tunnels would run under the lake itself."

I nodded. "Well. It's still our destination, and Valtiel doesn't seem to be here… So let's get going." I folded the note in half, about to fold it into fourths when Pyramid Head reached a hand out, his palm up for the note. "Oh. Yeah, keep it in your wallet." I handed it to him, turning to the entrance of the alley. "Let's keep moving."

With the idea now in our heads to take a boat across Toluca Lake as James had done, we set off down the street, keeping a brisk pace and an eye out for any monsters nearby. Josh and I walked in front while PH brought up the rear. Josh leaned over to me as we walked, keeping his voice quiet. "He's been reading that note, y'know." I blinked, turning my head nonchalantly as I tucked some hair behind my ear. Sure enough, PH held the note in front of his metal head, keeping up with us while hanging back a good distance. I turned my head back to face forward. Josh glanced to me, his board and nail held in both his hands. "What do you think the deal is?"

I shrugged. "Maybe he knows who it's about."

"Should we ask him?"

I smiled. "D'you think we'd get a coherent explanation?"

"True."


	10. Chapter 10: The Tinman of South Vale

Our little party of three had just reached the end of the alley behind Heaven's Night when we heard the ominous rumbling of the dumpster reach a breaking point, the dumpster falling over. The three of us turned all at once, watching the lid swing open. Having always been a fan of animals, I felt sick when I saw what stepped out. A large dog, seemingly either a pit bull or a rottweiler, stepped out of the dumpster, dripping with blood that seeped from its skinned body. Its muscles stretched and contracted visibly with every movement, its head turning to us. Josh stumbled back as we saw the horrific injury it had suffered: a knife was plunged into its skull, gleaming silver in the dim light of the fog world. "Gah! Kill it with fire!"

"Josh, we don't have any!" The dog padded towards us, its body low and hackles raised in a snarl. I held my katana at the ready, backing up a step. "Shit… Walking dogs at the shelter is gonna take on a whole new meaning now…" As the dog got closer, it leaned back onto its haunches, launching forward at Josh. I lashed out with a punch to its shoulder, knocking it off course. Josh stepped forward, giving it a few good whacks with his board and nail, a final mournful whine escaping the felled beast. I winced, looking away. "Get the knife from its head." I couldn't stand to look at it longer, especially after it had cried so pathetically upon death. Just like a real dog would. I felt sick. Josh stepped to my side, the knife in his left hand. He patted my shoulder with his right.

"Hey… It wasn't even a 'real' dog. Okay?" I looked over to him, nodding a bit.

"Right. It was just… Just Alessa was afraid of them. That's why it's here. Right?"

He nodded. "Right. Come on, let's keep moving." He gave my shoulder a nudge. I nodded to him, walking onward.

South Vale, as it was called on the map, was a pretty area of Silent Hill, even in the fog world. As we reached the edge of town, the city gave way to thick woods, through which we could barely see Toluca Lake. Just as we thought we were going to see nothing but forest, though, up ahead was a light post, lit and piercing the fog with a soft glow. The Silent Hill Historical Society was ahead, behind which was a boat launch noted on the map. Bypassing the building itself, we trudged out back to the boat launch, finding it to be a modest sized dock with a row boat. I looked around to the group. "Alright. I think PH should sit towards the bow, then Josh and I should sit towards the stern. Who wants to row?"

"Well, if you and I row, we'll be using up strength we may need later." Josh looked to Pyramid Head. "I don't know how well the two of us could move our combined weight…"

I nodded. "Good point. Neither of us are exactly athletic, and I'm not particularly known for my stamina…" I looked to Pyramid Head as well.

PH looked from Josh to me, then to the boat. He tossed his hands up, groaning. As he stepped to the boat to load the paddles into it, a bright light overtook us from overhead. We all looked up, seeing nothing more than more white light. PH quickly grabbed us and yanked us away from the dock, huddling against the wall of the historical society building. Out of the ray of light, we could now see clearly what was happening. The boat lifted slowly from the water, dripping as it ascended into the light. The rope unwound itself from the dock and followed the boat up into what could have been nothing except a flying saucer. "What the-" PH quickly slapped a hand over my mouth, silencing me immediately. As sudden as it arrived, the light disappeared and the UFO zipped away with a whirring noise. PH finally relaxed, letting go of us. I stepped over to the dock, looking down at the paddles still left on the dock. I dug around in my bag, retrieving the map. "…We got a long walk ahead of us, gentlemen." I sighed. "What the hell do they even want with a boat?"

Josh shrugged. "Space fishing?"

Thoroughly disgusted, I turned and stomped away from the dock, heading back to the road. The boys followed and we continued on, traveling along the long, arcing road that circumvented Toluca Lake. I grumbled to myself about the time we could have saved had we simply gotten the boat, knowing it would make no difference in the end if I complained or not. Still, it felt good to complain. As we continued along, we reached a bridge. From above the water, I peered down, spotting shapes moving about below. "Shit. Guys, more Lurkers." As obvious as it was that they saw us, though, they didn't attack, instead simply crawling around each other in the shallow stream.

Leaning over as well, Josh frowned. "Uhh… That's weird. What d'you think we should do?"

I backed away. "Well… They don't seem to be interested. Let's keep going."

The further we went from the bridge, however, the darker the scenery around us became. Light faltered as it traveled through the trees, reaching less and less toward us. PH held his knife in both hands, ready for anything. "This can't be good…" I frowned, shaking my head. "Not good at all." I looked down to the pavement, watching as the asphalt began to drip through a mesh of metal below it. Cursing Valtiel under my breath, I readied my katana, Josh doing the same. As we continued along the road, the darkness got even worse, the only light we could see emanating from the lake through the trees. To make matters more intense, the road was blocked by a rusted, chain link fence. Bound to the fence with barbed wire was a mutilated corpse, its head covered by a helmet composed of goggles, a light on top, and a breathing apparatus. I stared at the corpse, stepping back. "Ho-ly shit…"

Josh tore his gaze from the corpse, pointing to the woods near the lake. "I think we might be able to go around… Let's try." We agreed, setting off at a run into the woods. As we ran into the woods surrounding Toluca Lake, the light shifted colors, becoming orange before changing to bright red. The fence indeed ended, but as we turned to pass by it, the trees collapsed into a ring around a clearing, fencing us in. We backed up against each other, watching our surroundings. Soon, we heard it. A crashing noise, branches snapping and leaves crunching as dry as if it were fall. From the fence, we heard the sound of metal dragging across metal, screeching and echoing in the abyss under the transformed road. The trees obscured our view from the sound's source, but the red glow persisted all around us.

I stared at the fence, my hands gripping the katana tightly. "Okay, Josh, I'm stumped. What the hell boss is this?"

"I hate to say it but, well… Y'know how Silent Hill two had James fighting TWO Pyramid Heads?"

I nodded quickly. "Yeah? But… Wait, seriously?"

"I think so…" His board and nail raised beside my katana. "Get ready." PH lifted his knife onto his shoulder, prepared to bring it down at the first sign of trouble.

The dragging metal noise subsided, crunching resuming again. An eerie quiet overtook the area just before the tree limbs in front of us shuddered and crumbled under the slicing power of a great knife, its wielder gripping the fence tightly with his free hand. It was another Pyramid Head, the red light casting a dead, maroon hue to his skin. His helmet was higher, sharper, and more industrial than our companion's, and his body was slimmer to boot. The three of us backed up as he yanked his knife back, dragging it behind himself. Unlike our companion, he twitched and shuddered as if every movement brought him excruciating pain. I glanced to Josh as we continued to back up. "Josh? How the hell do you beat this thing?"

"I… Hell, I don't know if we should even try to fight it! I don't think any of our weapons are strong enough. Other than…" He looked to PH's knife. "Maybe we should distract it while he goes in for the kill?"

I nodded quickly, picking out the pins from my hair to remove my nurse's cap. "Sounds like a plan." As the boss lurched towards us, I gestured for PH to move to the side. Stuffing the pins in my bag, I waved the bright white hat around. "Over here! Hey!" The boss paused for a moment, then yanked his feet into position to start moving towards me.

"Careful…! We don't know how fast this guy can move! He may have some surprises up his sleeve-" Josh grabbed me by the arm, yanking me out of the way of the great knife as it suddenly swung like a murder machine at us, lodging into the ground where I had just been standing. Getting a clear view of it, I saw it was shaped like a bowie knife, half of its normally blunt edge serrated.

"It's the one from Homecoming." I gave the boss another full look. "He's definitely the one from Homecoming. But… But you never fight that one! He just looks at you and leaves!"

"Yeah, well, I don't think this one is going anywhere. And this definitely isn't the game." We continued to back up, keeping the boss fixated on us as PH moved closer as quietly as possible. We watched as he gripped his knife tightly in both hands, prepared to bring it down on the boss's back. At the last second, the boss turned his head slightly, following our gazes and managing to bring his own knife up at the last great knives were locked, neither wielder willing to back down as they both pressed each other for dominance of the situation. Though PH seemed stronger, the boss was holding his own, their hands both pressed to the blunt edges of their blades.

"If either of them let up, the other one will be cut open…" I bit my lip. "Neither of them can move!" I turned to Josh, lowering my voice to a whisper. "Still got that knife?"

"Yeah, I-" Josh stopped. "Wait. You're not thinking about attacking that thing yourself, are you…?" He paused, looked to the ground, then looked back to me, a determined expression suddenly on his face. "I'll do it."

I shook my head. "Josh, no, come on-"

He lifted a hand to point at me. "YOU'RE the protagonist, after all. If you die, we're ALL screwed."

I grabbed Josh, hugging him tightly. "You stubborn jerk… You sure about this?"

"Absolutely." He pushed me away gently, his smile barely concealing his shaky nerves. He turned, storming off toward the battling Pyramid giants, the knife in his hand. The two continued to grapple with their knives, their heads pressed to the metal of the blades now as well. The space between them had grown considerably, however, as they spread to wedge themselves against the ground, trying for the advantage. Both were exposed, however, even though neither could actually attack. Luckily for PH, he had allies. Josh approached the two monsters, crouching down slightly in order to slip himself between the two of them. Keeping himself low, watching for either of the giant knives to slip, he crept in front of PH's doppelganger. The helmeted beast rumbled in anger, unable to prevent his fate. With a strong, forceful thrust, the knife was lodged into the monster's chest cavity. Josh attempted to pull it out, but after realizing the knife was stuck, he let go. Not wanting to get caught beneath the beast, Josh bolted behind Pyramid Head for safety. As the boss faltered, he lost his grip on his knife, the serrated edge quickly shoved into his shoulder. Pyramid Head leaned back after the parry was finally broken, slamming his blade into the boss's abdomen. With a jerk and a yank, the great knife was pulled out of the boss's body, leaving it to fall over onto its back. I breathed a sigh of relief as the body remained on the ground, never moving.

Hundreds of insects skittered out of the tree branches, swarming over the body. Though the amount of insects increased dramatically, the size of the pile never increased, and in fact diminished considerably. A minute passed before the insects finally dispersed, ignoring us completely, leaving behind nothing but the boss's helmet and weapon, along with a ripped piece of paper. I stepped over to the paper, picking it up and smoothing it out. It was old, very old, but still held together without any rips or tears. I cleared my throat, reading the printed text aloud.

"In the pursuit of creating a more perfect Way, rules must be followed and rules must be enforced. Any member who ignores this command shall be dealt with swiftly and in view of all. This shall ensure continued prosperity.

It is, therefore, imperative that the effective Master of Arms not waive in the responsibility of enacting this power until the last day in his life.

In God's Name, so shall it be."

I looked up from the paper to Josh and PH. "So… We killed him with the dagger we found, we found some sort of love note along with some wedding vows…" I frowned. "And all those Homecoming monsters…"

"What are you thinking, Jane?"

I peered down at the helmet, folding the page up. "I think… I need a look at that helmet." After sliding the page into my bag, I stepped over to the helmet, inspecting it. Sure enough, there were multiple industrial dials on the back, seeming as though they had some connection to whatever mechanism kept the helmet shut tight. I prodded it with my katana, turning it on its side. The end of the bottom plate was short, leaving room apparently for air to be drawn in and escape from. The helmet's inside, however, was lined with thick, harsh spikes of metal. I nodded to myself, nudging the helmet back down flat. "…I think that was definitely the one from Homecoming. But the page from it… It describes the duties of the Shepherd family."

"Oh! You're right!" He rubbed his bristly chin a moment. "You don't think… The end of the game…?"

I stood up from the helmet. "Don't forgive dad, don't kill mom, don't save Wheeler. The worst ending." I stared at the helmet a moment. No forgiveness, no mercy, no hope. That's what that ending had symbolized. I thought back, remembering a past love. It had only lasted five months, but I had placed so much trust in him. He had broken it seemingly without remorse, without regret. I told him I could have forgiven him, that I could try to understand him and his decisions. The longer I thought it over, the less I felt it could ever work again. I divorced him as soon as I could, cutting off communication from him, even changing my phone number. But he had broken me, and in effect, had broken Josh and me up. I couldn't feel love for Josh. Not for anyone.

Josh raised a brow. "You think that was Alex? Where… What happened to him, I wonder…"

I shook out of my reverie, stepping back over to the boys as the trees rustled again. Fortunately, the nightmare was over and they were merely raising back up to their proper positions, the fence melting into the ground. "Well… Well I guess he's gone for good. I don't know." I looked back to the great knife and helmet as they sat idly on the ground, an unfinished duty I now felt I had. I sighed softly. "Hold on. We gotta finish this right." I stepped back over to the two items, kneeling down to pick up the great knife by the handle. It was heavy, far too heavy to lift as easily as the boss had done, but I managed to pull it upright. "PH, gimme a hand here." With PH's assistance, we pushed the knife's blade into the ground just enough to keep it standing. Then, once we were sure it was stable, we lifted the helmet, placing it on the handle of the blade. We then stepped back, viewing the makeshift grave marker. I nodded a bit, turning back to the road.

"Always did think he was a soldier."


	11. Chapter 11: The Seal and The Smile

The rest of our walk around the lake was less than exciting, though one event did catch our attention. Hearing a fog horn, we turned our attention to the lake, spotting a river boat. "Oh! The Little Baroness from the arcade game!" I stepped into the woods for a better look, watching the boat chug along. It slowed to a stop before, without warning, was pulled under as easily as a toy into a child's bath. Deciding it was best to back up from the lake, we continued on, checking a few dilapidated houses on the way. Never finding anything of interest in them, we kept going, reaching the Lake View Hotel. "Okay, if we don't find anything here, then I'll be surprised." I looked up at the building, looking for any lights or moving shapes. "James spent a lot of time here. There must be some clue of what he's up to now."

Josh suddenly pointed up at one of the lower windows. I looked over to him, then to the window. "What?"

"There's a guy up there. Some older guy, looks like." I squinted at the window, frowning. Josh dropped his arm to his side. "He's gone now. I swear he was there, though." With enthusiasm, he walked up to the door, opening it. "Let's get in there and check it out!"

I laughed, keeping close behind him. "Josh, you're like… weirdly into this."

The entrance of the hotel must have been nice at one point, but now it was nothing but a run-down has-been building. The hallmarks of abandonment were clear and present: paint peeling off the walls, coats of dust on every horizontal surface, and bits of ceiling plaster on the wrong side of the room. We stepped further into the atrium, gazing at the surreal beauty of a wrecked work of art when we heard a man clear his throat. The three of us turned to the source of the noise: the reception counter. Standing behind the counter, his head covered in dust and grey hair, was a man clothed in a dark grey suit, his jacket unbuttoned and his collar lacking a tie. He spoke in an aged, hoarse voice. "You are guests in the hotel?"

I looked to Josh and PH, stepping closer to the counter to set my fingers on the counter. "Ah… Yeah. We are." I nodded back to PH. "We're with him." The man nodded, gesturing for us to follow as he turned and stepped out from behind the counter. We followed him back into an office near the counter, watching as he opened a trap door in the wood floor. From below, we could see light glowing in whatever room lay at the end of the steps. I gestured for Pyramid Head to step in first, Josh and I following close behind. The nameless man stayed behind, closing the trap door as we descended. The stairs had led us into a dark, cramped tunnel lined with strung lights. We followed the lights further down the tunnel, keeping a hold of each other. I wrapped my fingers around one of PH's belts while Josh clung to the strap of my bag, intent on staying together should anything attack. The further in we went, however, the more we heard a soft, pleasant sound from within.

"What could that be?" Josh whispered, holding tightly to my bag. I shook my head as we continued in, giving PH's back a pat. He lifted his knife in front of himself, keeping it at the ready. As we drew closer to the sound, it grew louder, identifiable now as singing. A large group, by the sound of it. Josh peered PH and myself. "No way… The cult is here?" Before us, the tunnel ended, opening into a large room below. More steps led down from the tunnel into what was, by all accounts, an Order sanctuary. The round room was lined with risers, on which many dark-clothed people stood. In the middle of the room, the floor sank into a circular pit, a blonde, white-robed man standing in it. Josh and I stepped out of the tunnel, peering down at the man in the middle. "Who's…" He reeled back. "Oh, FUCK no."

The man raised his eyes from the gathered masses to us, smiling serenely. His blonde hair, dirty and stringy, reached down to his shoulders. It had a gentle wave to it, much like my own. His chin was unkempt, a short beard covering it. Even though his appearance was somewhat normal, perhaps only slightly unusual, it was his smile that worried me the most. A familiar smile, one that I'd seen in renders of the fourth installment of the Silent Hill franchise. It was the smile of a serial killer, of someone who found everything entertaining for the fact that nothing was sacred anymore. "Ah." Walter Sullivan's crisp, baritone voice echoed in the chamber, calling the group's attention to us. "And there they are, brothers and sisters. The ones who will facilitate our salvation."

"Oh, god, he's not talking about US, is he?" Josh whispered.

I shrugged. "Maybe…" I nodded to the most deranged man in Silent Hill, speaking up. "Yeah. We're after James."

"With whose blessing?" Walter stepped to the edge of the pit, his hands lazily at his sides.

I hesitated. Did he expect someone in particular? "With… With Valtiel's blessing." I nodded. "But he didn't explain much to us." If I needed to, I could try to lie well enough to keep us safe in this situation. If that failed, there was always Pyramid Head. I couldn't tell if it was a good sign or not, but Walter's smile broadened.

"It was once thought best that the Order remain separated into different sects." He looked to the crowd, walking slowly around the edge of the pit. "Three sects, however, do not hold strong. They can be torn apart one at a time." He opened his arms to his sides, looking back to me. "The Sect of the Holy Woman, the Sect of the Holy Mother, and the Sect of Valtiel have come together in our time of need. Without our unity, the heretic would kill us all." He gestured to me, looking again to the crowd. "God has brought our salvation to us. An entire trinity." He looked back to me, his unsettling smile still in place. "Let us offer our thanks to you, for you shall lead us back to our sacred place."

I looked to my companions, trying to judge whether or not they thought the situation was safe. Pyramid Head held his knife vertically, its tip rested on the floor of the stair landing. He seemed relaxed for the time being, even if he was still ready for trouble. Josh did his best to look relaxed as well, but I could see his knuckles whiten as he gripped his board and nail. Assured that they had my back, I descended the steps. "You can offer your thanks to us with your assistance." Reaching the end of the steps, I stepped to the edge of the pit, my eyes locked to Walter's strange, entrancing gaze. It unsettled me that I couldn't tell what he was thinking. "We need to know which church James is in."

Walter kept smiling. "All of them."

I sighed. "…Okay, that doesn't help me, you or anyone else here."

"This will, though." He turned away towards a member of the crowd, gesturing for them to step forward. The veiled woman stood, holding up a black box. Walter lifted the lid open, delicately removing something from within. He held the object in both hands as he turned back to me. It was about the size of a drink coaster, mostly white with red designs inscribed into it. I tilted my head as I raised my hands to accept it. "The Seal of Metatron. It's true that we can't help you find James… But when you do find him, this will give you the power to overcome him." His expression hardened only slightly as the seal left his hands. "When the time is right, banish him from existence." Walter lifted his arms, turning about to the crowd gathered. "He will pay the price for his slaughter of the true believers!" The crowd cheered and clapped, excited at the prospects of whatever this "banishment" meant. I cheered as well, deciding I was better off trying to fit into this group of psychos than I was trying to be better than them. As the cheers subsided, Walter thrust a finger to point at Pyramid Head. "Step forward. Do it now."

I turned, looking to PH. Obediently, he trudged down the steps, reaching the edge of the pit. I watched warily, uncertain of what was going on. Walter pointed down. PH dropped to one knee, his knife screeching as it scraped the floor, sliding down at his side. Walter slipped one of his hands into his sleeve, pulling out a small, ornate hammer. "You, of course, are to keep the saviors alive on their mission." His strange smile endured as he lashed out, striking PH hard on his helmet with the hammer. PH growled, his hand twitching as he raised it to his helmet to stop the vibration. I looked to Walter questioningly. He returned my gaze, a regrettable event in itself as I found myself unable to look away yet again. It was something about his eyes, the manner in which they were opened. Or maybe it was his eyebrows, lifted slightly in the middle in a somewhat pitiful way. "The first will serve you well. If he doesn't…" He held the hammer out to me. My hand lifted on its own, reaching to take the hammer. I felt the air pressing against my eardrums as I stared into the man's eyes, as unblinking as mine were at that moment. My heart pounded in my ears, my breathing slow and shallow. Of all this I was hardly aware, my thoughts empty and my eyes fixated on Walter's.

My mind suddenly lurched back into motion, resisting the effects of whatever was affecting me. I clenched the muscles of my arm, pulling my hand back. I finally blinked, shaking my head. "…No. I don't think I'll need it."

Walter watched me for a moment, then retracted the hammer. "Very well." He turned back to PH, struck him again, then slid the hammer into his sleeve. I shifted my weight, watching as PH again held onto his helmet. I thought back to the sewer after he had bashed the door open, remembering how long it had taken for him to finally recover. My heart ached, but I didn't reach out to him. What would the cult do if I helped the guy their certifiably insane leader kept hitting on the head with a hammer?

"Walter." The man looked back to me. This time, I made sure to consciously blink. "Why did you call him the first?"

"That's what he is." Walter nodded. "The first."

I raised a brow. "…Okay then." I looked to PH, then back to Walter. "Well. We'll be going. Things to do." I tore my gaze from him, looking to the gathered cultists. "Bye now." I gave a small wave, turning to the steps. As I turned away, I felt a cold hand grip my arm, holding me still. PH rose from the floor, roaring. I looked over my shoulder to see Walter's creepy gaze and clammy hand on me. I reminded myself to keep blinking. "…What?" I glanced questioningly up at Josh, who shrugged.

As I turned my attention back to Walter, he spoke. "There is something more you must do here."

"Uh…" I nodded. "Alright. What is it?"

He reached over, slipping the hammer into my bag. "Upstairs. In the suite he once stayed in." He released my arm, nodding. "You'll find some answers there first."

I raised a brow. "The room he stayed in? James?" Walter nodded again. "Alright…" I looked back to PH, finding him quite tense and ready for a fight. "Let's go, guys." PH seemed to look at Walter before he nodded, trudging back up the steps to Josh. I looked back to Walter. "Thanks." His lips parted as his smile broadened and he lifted his hands, raising his fingers in what appeared at first to be the peace sign on both hands. I shuddered as I figured out the real meaning of it, quickly ascending the stairs to leave with my companions.


	12. Chapter 12: Closer to Our Goal

Author's Note: Thanks for all the adds and the favorites, everyone. I'm glad people are as excited about this story as I am! Reviews are very welcome. I love to hear from you guys!

Three floors made up the hotel, the top floor being our objective. Creepy man's ever so helpful advice proved to be helpful, as we found several health drinks and a first aid kit in the room. Not as helpful was the box of shotgun ammunition in the room, but we brought it with us anyways. As I packed the items into my army surplus medical bag, white noise erupted from the radio within. I looked to my companions before pulling it out, all of us uncertain of what it was doing making noise. I lifted the radio, inspecting it a moment. I looked at the dials on the top of it, turning them this way and that, having not a clue what I was doing. Suddenly, the static cleared and I heard an urgent voice speaking.

"-answer me! Mary, where are you? Are you alright? Did you get away? Mary!"

I looked back to my companions. Pyramid Head, who had been sulking by the room's broken down wardrobe, stormed over, grabbing the radio from my hands and roaring into it. "Hey! No, no, stop it!" I snatched it back, turning away. I held down a button with a microphone printed next to it. "James! James, is that you?"

The radio crackled, its sound garbled. I turned one of the larger knobs, figuring PH must have nudged it. "…who you are or why you're here, but if you did something to her, then you'll answer to me as to why-"

"No, no, James, listen!" PH reached for the radio again, so I skipped off to the side with two quick steps. "James, listen to me, we're not here for Mary or anything. We found this radio in the fire station. We thought it was just a radio, though!" The radio was quiet for a moment, seeming as though the listener was thinking this through.

"…Then you're from the cult."

I sighed. "Look, it's a long story. We're not from the cult, and we haven't seen Mary. Where are you? We need to talk this out." I looked to the others. "There's three of us here. Maybe we can help you find her. You think she's in trouble?"

"Yeah…" His tone softened somewhat, laden with concern. "I'm sure of it now. She wouldn't leave it behind." Another pause, then he continued. "Where are you now?"

"Well… We're at the hotel." I looked to Josh. "Lakeside?" He shook his head. "Lakeview?" He nodded. "Yeah. Lakeview Hotel."

"Do you have a map?"

"Wouldn't make it this far without one."

"Alright, just a second…" A long pause followed, during which I looked back to Josh and PH. I shrugged to them. "Meet me at the Balkan Church on the corner of Bloch and Bachman."

I nodded, then realized he couldn't see it. "Bloch and Bachman. Got it. We'll head over there." I hesitated. "Oh. And James? Look, when you see us, we're gonna look very strange… We're gonna look like hostiles. Please, please, don't shoot us…"

"What am I looking for, then?"

I looked around. "Well. You're looking for a nurse with a face, a shirtless, metal-headed guy, and a nerd-"

"WHAT SHAPE IS HIS HEAD?" I reeled back at the yell from the radio, wincing.

"Well… It's not the same as the red ones. He's on our side." I rubbed my ear. "Trust me. I've got a hammer. He's not going to misbehave." I quickly waved a hand to PH in an assuring motion. "It's like… really pointy. Very narrow."

"You want me to believe that you have a murderous, rapist demon as your friend?"

I frowned. "Hey. He's not like that. He's kept us pretty safe. Plus, he hasn't raped anything as far as I know…"

"As far as you know. Uh-huh."

I sighed. "Look, we'll meet you at the Balkan. I'll find a leash for him or something, okay?"

"Deal. I'll look for you. Sunderland out."

I dropped my hand to my side, the radio clenched in it. "The rebirth ending is right. But why would he have Heather? I didn't even hear any yelling or anything."

Josh shook his head. "I don't know… But we still have a lot of walking to do." He looked around the room, tapping his board against the floor. "What was it Walter wanted us to find here, though? Just the health drinks and ammo?"

"I guess." I looked around. "I can't see anything else…" I gave everything a good appraisal, finding nothing of interest. Everything was either covered in dust or irreparably broken into pieces. "Come on. Let's get going. It's a long walk to the Balkan."

Somewhat disappointed and somewhat confused, we left the hotel, nodding to the doorman on the way out. After a quick look at the map, we continued on along Sanford Street, spotting a sign to our left. Robbie the Rabbit's creepy, unblinking gaze stared back at us from the arching sign that read Lake Side Amusement Park. I peered into the park, seeing little more than a few vague shapes through the fog. "…Yeah. Let's avoid that."

Josh grinned. "Heh, what, you don't like Robbie?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I don't like haunted houses, either."

"Maybe you and my sister have the same problem. He probably won't freak you out as much if you didn't stare at him for too long."

I laughed, turning back to the road. "Well. I'm happy to skip the souvenir shop for now."

We kept going, reaching a fork in the road. I pulled out the map, checking our location. "Alright, so… There's the park, and there's the fork." I looked around on the map. "Shoot. I forgot to find the church." I pulled my pen out, attempting to mark the path we had just taken. All I got from it was a thin red line, the very last of the ink used up. "Josh? Got a pen?"

Josh patted himself down. "Uhh…" He dug his hands into his hoodie pockets, pulling out a pen. "Yep! Here you go. It's blue. Is that okay?"

I shrugged. "Sure. As long as it writes." I folded the map on itself, plotting out our current position and our past movements. "Alright…" My eyes followed Bachman Road north, away from our current position. As it crossed Bloch, I spotted the church. "There it is!" I drew a star on it, nodding. "There. Got it." I looked up from the map to Josh and PH. Concern crept into my mind as I realized PH was hunched over, holding his head. "…PH? What's wrong?" He groaned, kneeling down. I quickly folded the map up and stuffed it back into my bag. Josh and I stepped closer to PH, watching the fog carefully. "I think our friend is back…"

The fog gave no answers to our questioning glances. The wind, however, carried a mellow, droning hum that repeated itself with regularity. "Josh. What the hell is that noise?" I glanced back to him. "Did that other thing make the noise? The thing in the church?"

"No, that sounds like… Like a Closer." He frowned. "…Can PH not hit girls or something?"

"He took care of the nurses in Heaven's Night just fine…"

The hums drew closer, shapes stumbling in the fog. Josh and I readied ourselves, blade and nail gleaming. Our backs were to PH, his helmet echoing softly with heavy breathing. "Okay." Josh swallowed. "The thing about Closers is that they're pretty slow. We should be able to just run around them and whack them."

I nodded. "I'm just worried about PH. He can't move if they go after them."

The shapes moved closer, approaching us from both sides. Josh shook his head. "Well, we'll just have to stop them before they get to him, won't we?" As the creatures came close enough, we saw the details on their bodies. They were tall, as tall as PH himself. As tall as the creature in the church. Their arms were long, reaching all the way to their feet and ending in bulbous forearms like the Siam's. Dirty, short dresses clothed them. Their skin was pink and appeared to be covered in scabs and scars, betraying their otherwise feminine appearance.

But these were no creatures of shapely curves and long hair; as I ducked the first swing from the one in front of me, I felt the wind of the arm passing over my head. The creature's head twitched and shuddered like Valtiel's, but keeping with the "feminine" design of the creature, had nothing on its face except a sickeningly moist slit.

I raced around behind the creature, slashing at its back with the katana. As I'd feared, the katana wasn't very sharp. I'd have to impale it to do any damage. Luckily, the Closer's attention was now fixed on me and it swung again. I ducked yet again, getting in under its arm to drive the katana into its abdomen. The Closer roared, smacking me away with a surprisingly swift swing. I slid on the pavement of the road, my head hitting the concrete hard. As the Closer closed the distance, I stared up at it. My katana sat in its flesh, far out of reach as far as I was concerned. I still had my bag, though. I grabbed the katana's wooden scabbard from the bag's straps, rolled to the side, and quickly pushed myself up from the ground. Riding out my jolt of fight or flight adrenaline, I drove a hard swing to the back of the monster's head. It stumbled forward, its huge arms catching itself from falling. I took the opportunity to reach around and yank the katana from its body, plunging it right back in through the Closer's spine. The beast fell to the ground, twitching and groaning. I gave it a swift kick to the head, finishing it off.

I looked back to PH, seeing him still kneeling on the ground. His hands were clenched to his helmet as Josh fought off the other Closer, keeping its attention well enough to draw it away from PH. The Closer lobbed an overhand swing at Josh, who jumped out of the way at the last second. I stepped over to PH, giving his helmet a gentle rub, watching Josh land a good whack to the Closer's head as it recovered from its swing. The Closer flinched, sinking lower to the ground. Josh aimed another strike at the beast's head, stepping back quickly as it recovered. Again it swung and again Josh had a plan: he swung at the Closer's arm this time, throwing its trajectory off to save himself. The monster's balance thrown off, it fell to the ground. Josh let out a savage yell, smacking it one last time on the head. The Closer groaned as it died. Josh smirked, looking over to me, resting his board on his shoulder. As it met his shoulder, half of it fell off. Josh's eyes went wide, turning around to look at the half of the board with the nail in it resting behind him on the pavement.

"Uh… Not very durable, was it?" Josh bent down, picking up the other piece of the board. He held up both pieces, seeing if he could dual wield them somehow. The pieces were too short, though, and besides that were splintering. He sighed. "So now I'm unarmed. Great."

I shrugged. "Well. We'll find something else for you." I tossed him the scabbard of my katana. "Here, use this for now."

He caught it in his hands, looking at the black kanji carved into the wood. "So… What does this say?"

I shrugged. "Heck if I know. It's probably American-made, so it likely says something along the lines of 'cow gold air heart' or something." I gave PH's shoulder a nudge. "You alright, bud?" He gripped his knife tightly, bringing it up vertically to push up from the pavement. I kept a hand at the ready in case he wobbled, but he seemed pretty steady. "What happened, anyways?" PH looked over to me, bringing a hand up to his head to rub at it. "Headache?" He nodded. "Huh. Weird." I looked back to Josh. "I doubt it's a good idea to go meet James without all of us armed… So, where d'you think we can find another weapon?"

Josh stepped over to me, looping the scabbard on his belt. "Lemme see the map." I handed it over, waiting as he unfolded it and inspected the area we were in. "Hmm…" His eyes widened. "…I know where we're gonna get one."


	13. Chapter 13: Three Heretics Walk Into A C

Josh kept up a brisk pace, pushing PH and I to keep up with his excited steps. PH groaned, grumbling something to himself. "Josh, where are we going, anyways?" He stopped at the corner of Bloch and Bachman, lifting his hat off his head to look around. I blinked. "Hey. We're here." Josh shook his head, heading off down Bloch Street. PH and I sighed, following him yet again. "Wait up!" Josh kept his eyes set on the buildings to his left, passing all of them with a slight frown. Finally, he stopped in front of one next to an alley, grinning wide. He pointed up at the store's facade. I blinked, reading the name on the front awning.

"Here we are!" He hurried to the store front, his hands and nose pressed to the glass display windows. "Cut-Rite Chain Saws!" I raised my brows, watching as he pointed to each of the display models. "Look! That one's got key-turn ignition!"

I looked up at PH. We shrugged at each other. "Well. Let's see if the door opens!" Before I could get close enough to try, Josh quickly stepped over to the door, giving it a yank. He whined as it held fast. "Locked?" He nodded sadly. I stepped over, digging around in my bag for the hammer. "Well. Let's try breaking the glass." PH followed, pulling Josh and me out of the way. "Or that." Seemingly determined to get at least one door open with his favorite method, Pyramid Head lifted his great knife up, slamming it through the door's lock. We could hear the lock snap under the sudden assault, the door shuddering and falling open. Pyramid Head cheered, lifting his knife in the air and shaking it as he roared. I grinned, following Josh inside. "C'mon, let's see what we can find."

The inside of the shop was dark and dusty, just like most places in the town's foggy world, but Josh zipped around efficiently with his flash light, checking out each model of chain saw. I followed him, leaving PH to guard the door. "Hmm." Josh picked up one of the display models. "This one's pretty lightweight and easy to handle…" He peered at the tag. "Wait. Nope. This is just for small branches." He set it down, continuing on. "Think any of them are diamond-edged?"

I laughed. "I doubt it, Josh." I looked around, my eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. "Maybe if this were a stonecutting shop." As I kept moving while looking around, I bumped into Josh, who now stood still in front of one particular saw. Light from a crack in the ceiling shone down upon the item that sat waiting on the shelf. It was an orange-bodied machine of heavy-duty slicing power with an ignition key on the side and a safety trigger on the top handle. Josh's flashlight traced along the blade of it, the Stihl logo clear and black on the stainless steel plate. Josh reached out, taking it in his hands. He turned, holding it in the open space between the aisles, and turned the key. It started up with a roar, the teeth whirling along their track. Josh grinned wide, turning it off.

"Okay, I gotta say, that's pretty cool." He turned, heading back to the entrance where PH waited patiently.

Finally we were ready to head over to the church. It was a large, limestone structure, probably built with stone from my home state. The stone was covered in dirt, though, and looked as though it hadn't been cleaned properly in years. The steeple rose high into the fog, its pinnacle obscured by the thick clouds. As we walked over to the steps, I paused. "Wait." PH and Josh looked to me questioningly. "…Forgot to get a leash." PH mumbled, shrugging. "Well, I did tell James I'd get one for you." I turned, heading back towards the chain saw store. "C'mon, there were some carrying cases back there, maybe we can use a strap for it."

"Come on, you really think we'll need to get one to please James?" Josh followed after me, PH shuffling along next.

"Well, I dunno, he might shoot PH otherwise… I don't want anything bad to happen, y'know?"

The three of us stopped as we heard a creaking sound behind us. We turned to look, seeing the door of the church hanging open. I blinked, walking over to the steps. There was light inside the church, warm light like from candles. "James?" PH growled, making his way over as well. Josh held onto his arm, uncertain of what the big guy would do. I beckoned the others to stay close to me, stepping into the church as soon as they were near.

The church was obviously once a revered and well-kept building. However, it was a mess now. Objects of all sorts were strewn about, most of them in good condition. Things like weapons, bags, tin cans of soup, and other items all sat in their own piles on the floor. There were only a couple pews left intact, the others all disassembled and reassembled as tables, bed frames, and boarding on the windows. The white walls of the sanctuary were golden with the light of many candles, strewn about on just about every stable, horizontal surface. Only one element of the church remained the same: on the far wall hung a large crucifix, watching over the makeshift fortress the church had become. Having never been much of a Christian myself, I didn't feel as though the church had really been defiled. I was more of a pagan, finding nature itself to be sacred. Nature, of course, did what it had to to survive, just as the man aiming a shotgun barrel at us from behind a pew was doing. As I spotted him, I lifted my hands in the air, dropping my katana. Josh did the same after following my gaze, setting his chainsaw on the floor. The man got up, his aim steady. His blonde hair was messy, reaching down to the base of his ears. The butt of his shotgun rested against his green military jacket, faded blue jeans making a soft noise as he strode closer.

I watched him carefully, looking for any signs that he wasn't quite himself. After all, his visit to Silent Hill had been largely psychological. I wasn't sure if he would be any less than insane after that sort of ordeal. I cleared my throat. "James?" As he got closer, I realized he was aiming solely at Pyramid Head. I bit my lip. "What's the-"

"Thought you said he'd have a leash."

I sighed. "We were about to go get one." I looked to PH. "Behave yourself, okay? We aren't here to hurt him." PH growled, gripping his knife tightly. Nevertheless, he held still. "Maybe it'll help if he knows why you're mad…" I looked to James. "Hey uh…" I paused as he glanced in my direction. "We've heard a lot about you… What you went through here…"

James shook his head. "I haven't seen anyone here in years, aside from the damn cult. What would you know?"

I edged over to PH, taking hold of the great knife and tugging it a bit. PH grunted questioningly. "Let go, PH. C'mon. We're guests." He groaned, releasing the knife. I leaned it back against the wall. "So James. You've met monsters like this guy before, haven't you?"

James raised a brow. "Well… Yeah. I have. I thought they were dead, though."

"But this one isn't the same as them, right?" I tapped PH's helmet a bit. "See, it's not shaped the same, and he isn't dressed like them, either." James remained silent, watching carefully. "He's a friend of ours, and he'd probably be able to get along with you, too, if you'd give him a shot." I blinked. "Well. Not a literal shot, of course."

James kept the shotgun trained on PH for a while longer before finally lowering it, aimed at the floor. He sighed deeply. "…Sorry. I guess… I guess I'm just a little on edge."

I nodded. "That's pretty understandable in this town. So you and Mary live here?"

He headed back to the pews, laying his gun down. "Yeah. It's a long story… But we're stuck here. And now she's…" He paused. "…Missing." He shook his head, picking up one of the cans of soup. "So what's with the clothes? Why are you walking around with that guy?" He looked over to Josh. "…Why's he look so normal?"

I gave PH's shoulder a pat for his good behavior. "Well… Pyramid Head stopped by my house earlier. Not sure how he got there, but he was going to smack me or something for living with my mother…" James listened with a blank look on his face. I sighed. "So instead of getting smacked around, I made a deal with him to instead give him a hand with stuff here… And I figured if I was going to be helping him out, I might as well dress for the occasion. So I put on this costume from Halloween…" James nodded slowly. "So… then when we got here, we found Josh running around," I continued, motioning to Josh. He gave James a wave, finally lowering his hands from the surrender pose. James nodded to him. "And Pyramid Head thought Josh was you 'cause of his hair, so PH got all mad, but we got stuff worked out between them, and then we went and met with Valtiel, who said-"

"Wait. Valtiel? Who's that?"

I blinked a few times. "You don't know who Valtiel is?" James shook his head. "Dude, he hates you. He said you had a hostage."

"Hostage?" James frowned, picking up a can opener to punch a hole in the soup can's lid. "He thinks Mary is my hostage?"

I shook my head. "No, no, someone named Heather Mason." As he stared at me blankly, I elaborated. "…Blonde hair? Well… Maybe black, if it's not bleached… Uh… Kinda young? Maybe in her twenties now?" He shook his head slowly. I frowned, the truth dawning on me. "Valtiel lied to us." I turned back to my companions. "What the hell do we do now? Why are we here?"

"So who's Valtiel?" James slurped a bit of soup from the can behind us.

I turned back to him. "Well. He's basically…" I stopped, lifting a finger. "And don't think we're on his side! Now I'm just plain mad at him for this!" After James nodded, I continued. "He's one of the major figures of the cult. Some sort of… Angel or something."

James wiped broth from his upper lip. "Why would an angel lie to you, though?"

I shook my head quickly. "Trust me, he doesn't look anything like an angel. Doesn't act like one, either. He seems to control when the town turns into the Otherworld." James took another slurp of his soup as he listened. "And like… He apparently brought us here to help him out… Since you did something he didn't like… And…" I sighed. "Could I have some of that? I'm really getting hungry…"

James sighed, looking to his stack of soup cans. "I dunno… I have to go out and collect this stuff in order to even have it. Got anything to trade?" I dug around in my bag for a minute, retrieving a health drink. He nodded. "Fair enough." I stepped over, handing it over in return for a can of soup, which James opened for me.

"Thanks."

He nodded. "So where'd you find the radio again? The fire station?" I nodded. James frowned. "Where is that at? Which side of the river?"

I bit my lip. "It's… not on this side of town." I sipped a bit of the soup broth, then pulled out my map. "Here." I flicked it open, holding it out. "It's down to the south of the lake."

James peered at the map with concern, taking in a shaky breath. "…Something must have happened. They must have taken her." He closed his eyes. "Damnit, why did I let her go out by herself…"

Josh cleared his throat. "What did you last hear from her?"

"Well. Last I heard from her, she had gone over to the Sundries Shop on Bradbury Street." I continued sipping from my can of room temperature chicken soup, finding it to be pretty good compared to the stale air I'd been tasting since we got here. "She was going to see if she could find some water and more matches so we could cook a proper meal for once…" PH tapped me on the shoulder, pointing to the soup. I frowned, shrugging at him. "…But the last I heard from her was a yell. I'd been trying to get in contact with her ever since then, but I never heard anything."

"Maybe that was the static we heard when we first found it." PH nudged my shoulder again. "PH, c'mon, I don't have a bowl or anything for you to use." James raised a brow. "Ehh… He's hungry, I guess."

"Wait, he eats?" I nodded. "Does he eat much?" I shook my head. James tossed me a small plastic bowl. I caught it, pouring some of the broth and the smaller noodles in and handing it to PH. James' expression, confused at first as PH pushed open the hatch on his helmet, turned to disgust as he watched PH eat. "…That's…" He shook his head, looking away. "Wow. Okay."

"Yeah. So anyways, we heard a lot of static when we first found it. I thought at first that maybe it was because PH was nearby, but now that you mention it, maybe it was left on an empty channel to draw attention to it." I tapped my can of soup. "It did turn into the Otherworld pretty soon after we found it." Before James' expression turned too sorrowful, I decided a slight subject change was in order. "So how long have you two been here?"

He shook his head. "I don't even know." He looked around at the church's interior, appraising each pile of stuff. "It feels like it's been ages… Every day just trying to survive and keep safe…" He looked up from the piles. "I think it was '94 when I got here, though."

"That's a long time to be stuck here." I stopped, blinking, then stepped over to James. "Oh. Hey. I'm Jane, by the way." I offered my hand to James, shaking his. "That's Josh, and, well, you know who he is…" I nodded back to PH. "Sorry. But anyways, we all thought Mary was… Y'know…"

James peered at me a moment, either trying to figure out what I was implying or trying to figure out how I even knew so much about him. "Yeah… She was." He smirked. "But this town has some pretty well-kept secrets. Let's just say I got her back."


	14. Chapter 14: Missionary Style

"I've noticed a few things about living here." James looked to Josh. "Got any queens?"

Josh shook his head. "Go fish. What sorts of things?"

James reached down to pick a card up from the deck. It was nighttime now, the boarded windows no longer letting any light through. I was surprised that night even existed in strange, imaginary worlds such as these, but apparently life still went on somehow. We had all decided to wait until a new day dawned before we would set out on our respective quests. For now, it was a chance to play a game of cards on the floor with a can of soup for each of us. Our health drink supply was woefully short now, but we would certainly find some more later on. "Well, for one, when I was first here, I never felt the least bit hungry. After I began living here, though, my appetite returned to normal."

"Weird." Josh looked to his right to PH. "Got any twos?" PH grumbled, handing over three twos. Josh accepted them, placing his two of diamonds on top of the stack to lay with his other completed set of eights. "I'm amazed you even found a way to ward off the monsters and even the Otherworld, though. How do you manage it?"

James shrugged. "Well. I'm not about to give anything away, but it's all about figuring out the bane of the darkness." PH waved to me, then tapped the floor four times. I nodded, handing him a four of clubs. "It's the only thing that keeps the nightmare away from here. But I still have to be wary." He gave each of us a suspicious look. "So. How'd you hear about me?"

Josh looked up at me from across the deck. I nodded. "Any aces?" James shook his head. "Hm. Well, for one, there was a guy looking for you. You were reported missing. Aside from that…" I straightened up a bit, improving my posture. "I'm psychic."

James grinned. "Then what am I thinking right now?"

I looked at him for a minute, making sure to peer at him for a good while. "You're thinking about…" I picked a card up from the deck, adding it to my hand. "…How much you doubt my ability to read your mind."

"Very cute. How'd you know my name just from my voice, though?"

I shrugged. "Well, the fact is that I don't have a very good explanation. Think of it this way, though. What if we were all just part of some grand scheme that a creator had set out for us? Maybe he even brags about us to his friends, y'know, and shows his creation off." I straightened my hand of cards up a bit. "That's how I knew."

He shook his head. "I'm not going to get a straight answer from you, am I?" He looked to Josh. "Tens?" As Josh shook his head, he reached down to draw another card. "Why can't you just answer a simple question, though? I've taken you in, haven't I?" He glanced up at PH, as if to add the word "despite" to his sentence. Pyramid Head grumbled with discontent.

I frowned. "It's not a very easy question to answer. Please, just believe me when I say we're not here to do any harm to you."

James didn't look too pleased with the answer, but he seemed to understand that he wouldn't get anything else out of me. "I don't get something, though. I've been able to keep the monsters out, even when the door is wide open." He rearranged his cards a bit. "They _can't_ get in. At all." James pointed to PH. "So what's make him different?"

Josh raised a brow, looking from PH to me. I shook my head. "He's not a monster. He's just stuck in a bad position." I nudged PH's shoulder, smiling. "You're just a regular guy, aren't you?" He snickered a bit, giving a thumbs-up.

"I mean it." James didn't look amused. "He's one of them. Even if he looks humanoid… I mean, come on, his tongue is about a foot long." PH grumbled. "And see? He can't talk."

I pressed my hand of cards to the floor. "See how well you talk with an iron maiden on your head, though." I pointed to the helmet. "That thing is lined with spikes. It's bad enough that he has to wear it, but don't call him a monster just because he can't talk."

"Look, I'm not calling him a monster because he's handicapped, I'm calling him that because he's obviously not natural!" PH's head sank down towards the floor. "He's huge, he clearly can't live on anything other than liquid, and let's face it, no human has a tongue that long."

"Yeah, but he's not a monster!"

"Then what is he?"

I stopped, looking to PH. His head turned towards me, waiting for an explanation. "I…" PH set his cards down on the floor. I bowed my head in defeat. "I don't know… He's just… He's not like us." I looked back to James. "But he's not a monster. The other monsters are afraid of him, too. And…" He didn't look too convinced. I sighed. "Look, what's it matter, anyways?"

"Well, if he's in here, then maybe others can get in, too." James tapped his hand of cards on the floor. "Look. I've been here for years. Up until you guys arrived, I figured I was completely safe here. That guy over there?" He pointed to PH. "He's the only reason I doubt. It's bad enough that my wife is missing, but now I'm sitting here playing cards with a group of strangers who might have something to do with it."

"What do you want, then? What would make you feel better?"

The card game was over. As a last kindness, James had allowed PH to finish his can of soup. After that, it was time to please our host and take PH outside. I pulled him by his wrist, by now used to his chilly, latex-like skin. Pyramid Head grumbled, pulling back a bit. "Sorry, PH." I looked back, pulling him past the threshold of the door into the fog world. "I'm not too happy about this either." His shoulders slumped, his helmet growing moist as the fog clung to it. "Look. We'll be out and about again soon enough. We might be able to convince James that you're not so bad after all." I smiled, giving his shoulder a pat. "I don't think you're bad at all, though. You're not a monster. You're just different. Y'know?" He seemed to consider it a moment, then nodded. "Now… Will you be okay out here on your own?" He nodded again.

Suddenly, his hand lashed out to grab hold of my shoulders, yanking me towards himself. "PH, what-" Pain shot through my body, causing me to cry out. I felt faint, the pain overcoming me. With the bare minimum presence of mind to do so, I looked down. Protruding from my ribs was a rough-shod metal blade, covered in blood. My legs grew weak, Pyramid Head's grip being the only thing holding me up. I heard pounding feet and the door opening. The blade roughly yanked out of me, causing me to cry out again. I pressed a hand to the wound, wincing heavily.

"Holy shit! JANE!" As his eyes started to tear up, Josh spotted the monster behind me. Its legs were covered by corduroy pants, its head covered with a plastic bag. Its forearms bore elbow-length, red rubber gloves. In its hands were two tonfa-like weapons, rectangular pieces of metal with the macabre addition of swinging blades on the ends. One of them bore fresh blood. The creature rubbed its blades together, making a heavy, metallic scraping noise. Josh glared at the monster, starting up his chainsaw. "You! You're DEAD, you bastard!" The monster dashed at Josh, his blades at the ready. Just as he was preparing to lash out and stab him, though, Josh swung his chainsaw over his head with a yell of rage, slicing clean through the Scraper's head, the saw teeth spraying blood and shards of bone everywhere. The Scraper quickly fell to the ground, twitching. James ran over, giving it one last kick as Josh ran to my side. "Oh god. Oh god, please no…"

Pyramid Head eased me to the ground, Josh grabbing hold of my hand. I tried to grip his hand in return, trying to reassure him, to let him know I was still there, but I couldn't muster the strength. "Jane! Jane… Oh god." He leaned in to my face. My blurred vision barely made out his frightened face. "Can you hear me? Hang on… Please hang on…" His words shrank into shaky whispers. "PH, what can we do? Our items… I don't think they'll help at all…"

"They won't." The light tinge of a French accent rendered the voice instantly recognizable. "Trust me." James whirled around, standing between me and the faceless man who now stood by the Scraper's corpse.

James raised a handgun, taking aim at the man. "Who the hell are you?"

Valtiel stepped closer. "You and I have some business to take care of." He chuckled. "But that will come later. For now, I have work to do."

PH groaned, standing up. He reached down, pulling Josh away from me. I whimpered, wanting to reach up to them, afraid to be alone as my sight began to darken. I felt a strong grip wrap around my ankles, hearing shouting above me. The shouting faded into nothingness. The last sound I heard was the rustle of the pavement against my dress as I was dragged along it.


	15. Chapter 15: Clank Thunk Scrape Scrape

"It's been a long time since I saw you." I looked over to Gabriel on the grassy hill, my bare feet nestled in the cool grass. The land below the steep hill was covered in mist, an endless expanse of blue sky and crisp, white clouds around us. We both leaned back on the maple tree, helicopter-like seeds twirling lazily to the mist. "Why is it you take so long? You only come back every five years." I lowered my chin. "It's not fair."

Gabriel tucked his long blond hair behind his ear. "I've done as well as I can. You've been safe. You don't need me, anyways."

"It's not like that. If you can only be here if I have need of you, then what happens when I'm happy?"

I could feel his smile. "Then you don't need me because you're happy."

"You knew I was in distress, though, didn't you?" I looked over to him, his face never quite certain in my view. "You knew I was in trouble." I looked back to the mist. "I'm stuck in a town that shouldn't exist. I'm meeting people who are from fiction... Fighting monsters that can't possibly be real. Why is this happening?"

"I can't help you. I can't reach."

I felt I had dreamt of something important, something I wished I could remember. I didn't know what it was, but I still felt the need to know. As I tried to recall the details, though, it felt as though I were trying to catch water in hands that were stiff and seized. Eventually, I let it go, deciding that if it were truly important, I would remember it. As I came to, I realized I was laying on a cold, smooth floor. I tried to shift, my arms raised over my head, my shoulders in a stiff, uncomfortable position. As I tried to move, however, I realized my hands were bound at the wrists by tight, metal cuffs. Soon after, I opened my eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the darkness. I stared up as they adjusted, revealing the ceiling. It was not a ceiling but rather a large fan that rotated swiftly, the breeze from it reaching me. My eyes traced along the corner of the ceiling area to the walls. Old white tile covered the walls, dilapidated and dirty. A few tiles had popped off the wall, but more disturbing were the dark stains on the tiles themselves.

In the dark, I couldn't see much color, but as I turned my head to the left, I realized there was someone laying beside me. The person gave me a lazy wave, bending their fingers to make the gesture. There was a cigarette lit near their head area, embers on the end glowing, the smoke exhaled to my face. I quickly pushed myself up with my bound hands, finding them caught against a pole. I cursed under my breath, trying to pull my hands up over the pole, only to find it was attached to a frame. The person got up, seeming excited. "Who the hell are you?" I watched the person, trying to figure out who it was. It seemed to be a man, and he seemed to be wearing a knee-length tunic. "Valtiel?" I pulled against the pole, realizing it wasn't attached to the floor. It could scoot, but it was very heavy. It seemed like a table of some sort. The man walked away a short distance, standing at what appeared to be a work bench. I tried pushing up on the framework above the pole, realizing I couldn't push it up and free myself from it at the same time. It was with that realization that I heard a heavy piece of metal hit the concrete floor, followed by the sound of dragging metal, sparks flying from the sharp edge. "No way. No." The sparks died down and the person stopped moving. I grew even more certain of his identity as I heard grunting and straining as the great knife turned in his grip. I backed up as far as I could from the pole, trying hard to wedge the binding under the pole's end. It was no use. I let out a yell as the knife came screaming down in a vertical swing.

The metal frame shuddered as the knife swung down into it, sparks flying. Dust lining the edges of the walls ignited, flaring up. The metal frame bent under the knife's weight, raising what I now saw to be the foot of an old metal bed that had held my bound hands in place. I scrambled to my feet, watching the room illuminate with the dust fire. He was the spitting image of Valtiel in form, but there were distinct differences. His legs were covered in black, leather or rubber boots. His hands were sleek and smooth, the index, middle, and ring fingers fused together. They kept the creamy white color of latex, far different from Valtiel's red hands. Most notably, though, was his head. I didn't see a twitching, faceless head on his shoulders. Instead, I saw a rusty, blood-stained iron contraption, triangular in shape like an executioner's hood. I shook my head, struggling to understand why he was here. "No. You're dead." The Red Pyramid Thing held a cigarette in his free hand, smoke wafting out of his helmet's hole. I glanced around the dimly lit room, spotting my bag on the table behind him. "Look... I don't know why I've been brought here, but there's no reason to imprison me." I lifted my hands. "Whatever it is that's going on, I doubt I can make a difference. Okay?"

He drew back his blade, ready to swing again. This time I figured he wouldn't miss. At the last second, I leapt to the side, running to the work bench. He grunted, reaching out to grab my arm. I yelped and made a desperate grab for the bag, hanging it around my neck. "LET GO!" I tried to yank myself away as I searched around in my bag, both hands gripping the handle of the hammer Walter had given me. Struggling against his pull, I drew back the hammer in both hands, swinging it as hard as I could at his head. He roared in pain, releasing my arm and reeling back. I growled, giving his head another strike. "What the hell did you do? How long was I out?" He growled back. "Don't you fucking talk back!" I gave his chest a kick, knocking him to the floor. "I know what you do! You better fess up if you did something to me!" I dropped to my knees on top of him, holding him down. He whimpered, gesturing a bit with his hands. He made some pushing motions, then pointed at his hand with his pinky finger. "SON OF A BITCH!" I slammed the hammer down on his head yet again.

"Josh. Tie him up and get inside. I'm locking the door."

Josh looked back to James with a raised brow, then gestured to Pyramid Head. "I don't have any rope. Do you? It'll take a lot."

James stared at him with a blank look. "You mean you've just been letting him... Walk around? You haven't had to restrain him or anything?" PH grunted in irritation.

"Uh." Josh scratched his head. "Didn't seem necessary. He's been pretty tame up to this point." PH folded his arms, leaning back against the railing of the church steps. He grumbled a few words, pointing to James. Josh frowned. "What?" PH pointed insistently at James.

"What, you think it's my fault?" PH nodded, clenching his hands. "What makes you say that?" He gasped. "Oh! Right, you can't tell me!" Pyramid Head roared, storming into the church. James lowered his brow, chasing after him. "Hey! Where are you going?" He reappeared outside a moment later, his knife on his shoulder. He turned to Josh, staring him down, gesturing to the fog.

Josh frowned, looking to James at the church's doors. "I think he's going after her." He reached down, hefting his chainsaw from the pavement. "C'mon. She might be in trouble."

James folded his arms, shaking his head. "No. I'm safe here. If she's in trouble, she should be able to find her way back. She has her map with her." His head sank. "...What if Mary comes back?"

Josh shook his head, holding his chainsaw in both hands. "Well. You can stay and wait if you want. We're going after Jane." He and PH headed into the fog, departing the church. "Besides, you don't like PH anyways."

As Josh and Pyramid Head departed, James shook his head in dismay. He slipped past the threshold, closing the door. A click signaled the lock was in place.

With Red out cold on the floor, I looked around at his various tools and torture implements, picking through them with the same amount of care I'd give anything else covered in blood, rust and sharp edges. I stashed a pair of tongs in my bag, searching for a key to unlock my cuffs. The hammer seemed useful enough, but what would I do against anything without a metal head? His great knife laid at his side, his hand resting atop its handle. It didn't look as though it would be that heavy. I peered closely at him for a moment, then looked down at the knife. The fire of the dust was rapidly dying down. If I was going to do anything, I'd have to do it quickly. I reached down for the knife handle. If I could just get it out from under his hand...

Snapping to life, his hand gripped my wrist. I screamed, trying to pull away, unable to do much more than pull him to his feet. He laughed, releasing my wrist to pick up his knife. I took my chance, running out the door of the room into the uncertain darkness of the hallway. I stumbled as I ran along the wet floor, tripping over something soft and lifeless. I continued on, hearing the scraping of the great knife along the floor. I had always hated the dark, had never trusted it, and had always tried to avoid it whenever possible. At this point, though, it didn't seem too possible. I kept my hands stretched out in front of myself, knowing there would be twists and turns at some point in this place. As my hands met a smooth wall, I quickly turned, hitting another, rougher wall. I cursed under my breath, turning again. Another rough wall. I backed up against the smooth wall, watching the sparks from the knife draw closer.

There was nowhere for me to go, nowhere to run. I was about to either be sliced in half or raped or both. I couldn't imagine this was just some misunderstanding. I doubted I could get him to be nice, too, seeing as I had just mercilessly beat him with a hammer. The sparks drew closer and closer. I clenched my eyes shut, my ears ringing with the screech of his knife on the floor.

"So where d'you think it leads?" Pyramid Head shrugged at Josh as the two of them followed the long smear of blood on the road. "Think she's alright?" PH nodded quickly, patting Josh's shoulder. Josh frowned. "I don't get why it happened. Aren't Scrapers members of the Order or something? Why would they kill her if she's supposed to be helping them?" PH uttered a few words, seeming uncertain. Josh nodded. "Doesn't make much sense to me."

I pulled back against the wall as far as I could, my feet pressing back from the floor. Maybe when he swung, he would miss again. Maybe I could run around behind him. But then where would I go? I pressed desperately against the wall, on the verge of tears. Suddenly, I felt the wall give way behind me. I fell onto my back, landing on a wooden floor. I stared up, wide-eyed, staring at the red metal helmet, spotting a spear in his hand, seeing bodies hanging in cages suspended from the ceiling, hanging all around him. He stood above me, staring down at me on the floor. I quickly scooted back. Strangely, he made no move to attack or even step closer. As my panic slowly subsided, I realized I was staring not at Red Pyramid, but rather his likeness.

"'Misty Day'..." I stared at the painting on the wall, certain that it would start moving. I breathed a sigh of relief, the painting proving to be nothing more than a painting. I pushed myself up from the floor, rubbing my face. Had I just imagined it? Was I still at the church? Maybe James had taken the painting back with him. I lowered my hands from my face, recalling the events that had taken place. We had reached the church, gotten inside, talked for a while, played cards... There had been some sort of argument. I frowned, trying hard to remember what happened next. Just as a dream, though, it had all slipped away.

I looked around my new surroundings, seeing more paintings on the walls. More importantly, though, was a door. I quickly ran over to it, turning the knob. It held fast, clearly locked. I sighed deeply, deciding to give the room a better look. Surely the paintings were important somehow.

I gave each a close look. There were paintings of the town's landmarks, but in a stack leaning on one of the walls, I saw more. Kneeling down in front of the stack, I filed through them. They were strange, unfitting of the town. One was a covered bridge, something seen usually in the midwest. I looked closer, realizing a sign was on the bridge, informing people of a penalty fine if they failed to walk their horses across it. I remembered seeing a bridge like that in my town, complete with the sign. I set the painting aside, looking to the next. A corn field. I set it aside. The next looked familiar, showing a small house on a wide, empty plot of land. I picked the painting up, glancing at the last in the stack, depicting a water tower. I shook my head, standing up with the painting. This had to be a puzzle of some sort. Spotting an empty space on the wall, I stepped closer, finding a nail ready to hang another painting. I lifted the painting of the house, carefully hanging it straight on the wall. Nothing happened. I looked over to the door of the room, giving the knob another try. Again, it refused to budge.

I turned back around, looking again to the painting of Red Pyramid. My brow furrowed as I realized the painting was pressed outwards from the wall. The canvas acted as though it were made of rubber, stretching from the pressure of something behind it. I backed up against the door, dreading the worst. Had I come through that painting into this room? Was it a portal of some sort?

Had he figured out how to work it?


	16. Chapter 16: Hot on the Trail of Blood

A fleeting glimpse of Red Pyramid was all I got before I fell through the painting, landing on yet another wooden floor. Pushing myself up from the dusty floor with my bound hands, I looked around. Standing at the top of a staircase, I felt lucky that I hadn't simply tumbled down the steps upon entering the room. I looked behind myself to the painting on the wall. Instead of the painting of the house I'd seen earlier, I saw another painting of another pyramid-headed man, stretched out from the wall. I quickly bolted down the hall, trying door knobs as I went. Finally, one of them opened. I stepped inside, closing it behind me.

My eyes widened as I took in the room around me. A twin-size bed stood off to the right side of the room, a desk and chair on the other. On the wall over the desk hung shadow boxes containing pinned butterflies, their iridescent wings reflecting the dim light of the desk lamp. On the far wall was another door, probably the closet. Most notably, however, was the girl sitting on the floor, paper and crayons spread around her. She appeared to be about six or seven years old and had straight, dark brown hair held back in a ponytail. It was easy enough to recognize her. She was, after all, the subject of the many photos Pyramid Head had in his wallet. "A… Alessa?"

She blinked up at me, picking up the drawing she had been working on. "Who're you?" She held the drawing close to herself, as though she were afraid I would either see it or steal it. I knelt down to the floor, taken by the quiet of the room.

"I'm… Well, I'm Jane." I offered a hand to shake hers, my other dragged along with it by the cuffs. "It's nice to meet you." She looked at my hands, staying back. I lowered them. "So…" It had been a long time since I had spent time with children. Mum always said I was good with them, but I still wasn't sure why she said that. I looked down to the papers spread on the floor. They were simple, childish drawings, many of people, houses, and trees. "You like to draw?" Alessa nodded, her dark brown ponytail rustling on her back. I smiled. "I like to draw, too. What sorts of things do you draw?"

Hesitantly, she turned the drawing in her hands to me. "Mommy and daddy." She held her drawing up timidly, displaying the two tall figures and one smaller figure on the paper.

"Oh." I eyed the drawing. "I didn't know your daddy lived here… Does he?"

She shook her head. "He's in the hospital." She set her drawing down on the floor, carefully picking out a blue crayon. "I visit him sometimes."

"That's good." My ears were tense, listening for any sound that might come from behind the door. I hadn't forgotten the threat that was probably searching the halls now. "To visit him, I mean. Is he nice?"

Alessa smiled, nodding. "He's nice, but he's been in the hospital a long time. But he said once he's out, he's going to help me make another bug collection." The blue crayon pressed to the paper in her hands, dragging across one of the figure's chests in a criss-crossing pattern. "I don't like beetles, but he says he'll find some pretty ones. He says I might like them once I see them."

I wasn't sure why I had gotten into Alessa's house, nor why she was having a normal conversation with me, but I decided it must be important somehow. "Which hospital is he in?"

"Alchemilla." She looked at my hands, then back to my face. "Why're you wearing those?"

"Oh. These…" I looked down to the cuffs, frowning. "Well… Someone put them on me. I've been looking for the key. I haven't found it yet, though…"

"Why'd they put them on you?" She gave me a dark look, as though she suspected I deserved to wear them.

I opened my mouth to explain, but stopped myself. This was, after all, a young kid. "Well… Someone decided to take me over to his place, even though I didn't know I was going there." Alessa gave me a blank look. "See, I was… Well, I guess I was knocked out and stuff, so I couldn't really say no…" I thought again about the hand gestures Red had made. Avoiding despair, I thought next about the good whacks I had given him with the hammer. "But anyways, I really don't want them on me… Do you have any hair pins or anything?"

Alessa nodded, standing up from the floor. She pulled her desk drawer open, picking out a paperclip. "Will this work?"

"Maybe. I'll need to bend it up a bit." She handed the paperclip to me and I set to work bending it out of shape, trying to remember the article I had read on Cracked about weird stuff you could buy on the internet. I was certain lock picking sets had been on that particular list, and I remembered the image that went along with it. I did my best to bend the paperclip in the shape of a single pin key, then handed it to Alessa. "Here. I can't reach the lock. Give it a shot for me."

The girl knelt down in front of me, sticking the paperclip into the lock. She jiggled it around a bit, turning it every which way, her brow furrowing in concentration. I could tell she was becoming frustrated quickly with the work. Miraculously, though, just as I was certain she would drop the pin and proclaim it broken, the lock clicked. The hinges of both handcuffs opened, much to my surprise and amazement, falling easily off my wrists. "That was…" I rubbed my wrists a bit. "Wow. You got both of them and only picked one of them."

Alessa nodded to me, smiling. "Mommy says I have powers. I think I do, too."

From behind me, I heard the heavy sound of flesh and bone pounding on wood. I quickly looked back to the door I had come in through, standing up. "Alessa. Get back!" As I glanced back to make sure she heeded my warning, I saw nothing but empty space on the floor. With the swift motion of my glance, the room had changed. It still looked very much like a child's room, but one that had been neglected and left to the elements. Faded colors and splintering wood met my gaze. Remembering to breathe, I backed up against the closet door, trying to turn the knob. But no, the knob wouldn't even turn. I wondered if it was even a real door and not just some misleading sculpture built into the wall.

I looked around the room. My bag was on the floor with the dropped cuffs, forgotten beside the desk. I stepped forward to reach for it, but it was too late. Red Pyramid came crashing in through the door, nearly landing helmet first on the floor. He managed to catch his balance, standing upright with his trusty knife dragging behind himself. His helmet bobbed slightly as he breathed, labored and tired from the weight of his collective burdens. Despite his obvious fatigue, he still raised a hand, giving me a sultry wave with his fused fingers. I looked again to my bag. It sat on the floor beside his feet. "What the hell is it you want?" I looked back to him, watching as he inched closer, taking his sweet time in the small room. "Haven't you done enough? What will it take to make you happy?" He snickered menacingly, the air vibrating with the metal helmet's hum.

I pressed myself back against the door even harder, hoping against hope that it would suddenly fall open and offer me an escape. Was this what it was like? To be truly helpless, even more so than I had been through the trauma I'd already endured in my life? Helpless against raging flames, helpless against the changes in my family, watching things fall apart without the power to make any difference. I knew helplessness in such ways, but it had never been as personal. It had always at least been someone else suffering too. This time, I was alone, and I knew there was no one who would come to my aid. Who could know where I was? Even I didn't know where I was. I might as well have been out in a desert with nowhere to run or hide. I knew others had known such torment. People who actually lived in such places, and even those who had only visited. Like I had seen on a television show, in one of its episodes to tackle hard-hitting issues, I was about to become just as broken as the girl depicted in it. Broken by a man with a superiority complex, who was so insecure that he had to extend dominance over others to...

I blinked, staring past Red Pyramid as it all fell into place in my mind. I knew I was defenseless, probably the only deciding factor in my course of action. At that point, there was nothing to lose. If I failed, it wouldn't have surprised me. But I decided I had a shot.

"Can I touch your head?"

Red Pyramid stopped, straightening up and grunting questioningly. I nodded to him. "I wanna touch your head." He leaned back a bit. I stepped forward, reaching a hand out to him. "Come on. Just once?" I grinned as he stepped back. "It's kind of a turn-on..." Red lifted a hand, waving it quickly. "Oh, come on!" I pouted at him. "It's just one of those things, y'know? You're all bloody and stuff... Like a vampire or something." I set my hands on my hips, shaking my head. "Too bad you don't... I dunno... Glimmer in sunlight. Though you do glow red, right?" His head tilted in confusion, deepening by the second. I looked him over slowly. His tunic looked as though it had started to rot in places, the fabric or leather, whichever it was, stained with mold. It was difficult to say what the material was due to the thick layer of grease and dried fluids slicking it down. The exposed skin of his arms wasn't much better, scarred and pasty with pale capillaries visible just below the surface. As my throat tightened up in disgust, I covered my cough with a sultry laugh. "I've been just dying to get my hands on you..."

With a roar, he backed up further, dropping his knife and hastily turning to scramble out the door. I chased after him, grabbing my bag along the way. "Wait! I have lotion with me! It's sweet pea scented!"

Josh and Pyramid Head stopped on the road, staring at the pavement below them. The blood smear, while faint at times, had never broken, leading them along what they hoped would bring them to their lost companion. Josh pulled his hat off, scratching his mop of blond hair in confusion. The blood trail had led them across one half of the town, beckoning them across a bridge, but ended abruptly with not so much as a fade in its color and thickness. "Well. This isn't helping." PH grunted in agreement. "What, did she just... Suddenly lift off from the ground or something?" PH looked around, appraising the area for a moment. The scant details visible on the street weren't helpful. It was the edge of town, where the looming brick structures of shop fronts and municipal buildings gave way to a cleared, scrubby area of dead grass and fences in need of mending.

PH shifted his knife on his shoulder, groaning in dismay. Josh nodded. "I hear you. I thought for sure this would lead us where we needed to go..." PH dug around in his pocket, retrieving his wallet. "I mean, come on. We don't get a clue?" Josh raised his brow as PH lifted a folded paper from the wallet's pocket. "What's that?" He grunted, offering it to Josh. "Oh... The letter from Heaven's Night?" PH nodded, shaking it. Josh frowned, taking it in his hand. "Okay." He unfolded it, looking over the text. "So... You think this is the clue? But there's no name on it. Or anything." PH sighed heavily. He grabbed the paper, turning it over. On the back, clear as day, was an address written in the same hand as the letter itself. Josh blinked several times at the address. "...Well. That wasn't there before." The two headed to the corner of the street, staring up at the green street sign. "Finney and Simmons." Josh checked the letter again, setting his hat back on his head. "Simmons. Well, we're on the right street. Come on. Let's look some more."

Time passed just as unnoticeably as ever in the town, the light, quick steps of Josh and the weighty, slower treading of Pyramid Head echoing through the empty streets. As they searched Simmons Street for the address, they turned around, heading further from the town's denser areas to the edge of the town. "It must be a country address," Josh managed through heavy breaths, breaking into a run. PH did his best to keep up, carrying his knife in both hands. Up ahead, a figure became apparent in the fog, walking quickly towards the two. PH stopped, calling out with his echoing, metallic roar. The figure stopped, returning the sound. Josh blinked several times. "Seriously?" The figure swiftly ran over to PH, coming into full view. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Red growled at Josh. Josh raised his brows, stepping back a few paces.

Josh looked on as the two proceeded to grunt and mumble to each other, Red pointing back the way he came several times. PH shrugged, scratching his helmet. Red nodded quickly, making a few hand gestures, unreadable in meaning. The two stared at each other for a long, tense moment. The moment passed as PH lashed out, smacking Red on his helmet. Red staggered to the side, holding his helmet with a groan. PH looked to Josh, gesturing for him to follow. Josh nodded, hefted his chainsaw in his hands, and gave Red plenty of room as he passed by.


	17. Chapter 17: Separation Anxiety

"I don't get what the problem is." Red looked up at PH as they and the smaller, hatted boy walked along behind. Though Red himself was imposing with his large, broad helmet, he was still dwarfed by PH, standing at a shorter, more reasonable height. "Why do you have a problem with it? What's the problem?" Red lifted a hand, slapping PH's arm. "Don't tell me you like her or something. I sort of want to get some use out of her." PH shifted his knife on his shoulder, striking back with a punch to Red's head.

"Of course not. It's not alright. That's all."

"But why not?" Red quickened his steps for a moment, having lagged behind the larger man's strides. Free of his knife's weight and the struggle that went with it, his arms swung freely at his sides in time with his steps. "She's a goddamn tourist. Seriously, are you telling me you actually care?"

"No."

"Then what the hell is your problem?"

Josh raised a brow as the two continued to grunt at each other, shaking his head. PH knew the boy was listening, but he didn't care. Even if he could understand their words, it wouldn't have mattered. Things would have to be vague for now, for in his own mind, they still were vague. His thoughts made as much sense to him as trying to figure out how the fog would billow. It was strange, really. He could kill any of the others who had come to the town without a second thought. It had never mattered before. He had never even cared about what Red and his buddies did. They had never been that close, but there was no point in it. Their worlds revolved around sex and murder. His own? He wasn't so sure anymore.

"Well?"

"Just leave it alone. I'm just fine."

Red lifted his hands in surrender. "Don't have to get all defensive about it."

PH stopped, staring at the house ahead through the fog. Two stories, wood-sided, dilapidated, falling apart, covered in char and shrouded in fog. Always the fog. It was bad enough having to stare through wire mesh constantly, but that damned fog always bothered him that much more. "I'm not defensive." He pointed to the house. "She's in there?" Oblivious to the meaning of his words, Josh repeated the question, looking to PH. He glanced over at the boy, already tired enough of being misunderstood.

"Yep." Red nodded. "She started acting... Really strange. I almost had her, but then... Well. You know."

"Yeah. You almost had her, then you dropped your knife like an idiot."

Red turned fully to PH. "Here's what I have planned. I know she won't come easily to me, but she knows you, and she seems to trust you. You head upstairs, get her to come down, then I'll take her back to the chapel under the park. It'll be more secure."

The chapel. A sense of safety came with the word. Strangely, a sense of being trapped did as well. PH couldn't even remember when he had been there, but he was sure he had at some point. Not with Valtiel, though. Someone else. A whole group. He lowered his head, straining to think. No, they hadn't been there the whole time. They came and went. Had they been friends? Acquaintances? Enemies? As he struggled to remember, Red nudged his arm. He quickly snapped back to the present, looking back at the house. "No. I don't think we should take her there."

Red stared at Pyramid Head in silence, his arms slack at his sides. Josh began drumming his fingers on his chainsaw, waiting for the two to decide what to do. He looked on in curiosity. "Then where should we take her? The chapel would be best. She wouldn't be able to get out of there."

"I don't..." PH stopped, his mind grinding to a halt. Thoughts of mercy had grown stronger, their voices more apparent. But why? He strode to the house. "Look, we'll figure it out once we get her."

Red nodded silently, following after. Josh trotted behind, glancing about at the fog. As the trio reached the front door, PH lifted a hand to it, settling it against the blackened wood. Something was strange. Something familiar. A visible knot in one of the boards caught his attention. Red stood to the side of the door, motioning to it. "Go on. Go get her. If she sees me, she'll know."

Pyramid Head looked to Red, then back to the door. She probably would know. He figured she was at least smart enough to know when something was wrong. Something definitely was wrong. He could feel it. It was everything he was, everything he was meant to do. Was he himself the source of the wrongness he felt? Either his conscience or his ego insisted he wasn't. If not him, then what was? What was left? What else did he even have? Instinctively, his hand lowered from the door to his pocket, numb fingers tracing along his wallet's edge.

Of course. He had that memory. Her smile. Why he carried her photo with him, why he had never completely given into the temptations of Red's lifestyle. It was that fleeting memory of her smile, the memory of a little child with her whole life waiting for her to live it. What place did he even have in that life? He was a murderer, a violent fool who swung a blade around at anyone he felt deserved it. No better than Red. He might as well have fallen in with him and the other two. Alessa's smile, that small, limited amount of happiness she had shown, clung to the front of his mind.

"...No."

"No?"

PH shook his head, his foot stepping down one step. "No. You want her that badly, you go get her. I'll wait out here."

Red stared at him in disbelief. "What?" He growled, storming up the steps to kick the door open. With a quick swing of his arm, he grabbed PH by the wrist, yanking him into the house. "Damnit, come on! We'll drag her out screaming!" PH stumbled across the threshold, regaining his footing quickly to yank his arm back.

"Fine. I'll get her. Wait here with the kid."

Red nodded. "Good. Thanks. Makes it way easier." He sauntered over to Josh, draping an arm over his shoulders. "Now go get her."

Josh raised a brow, gripping his chainsaw tightly as he gave Red a nervous look. "...Can I help you?"

PH turned to the stairs, shifting his knife to his right shoulder. He set his hand on the banister, the sound of pounding feet ringing in his head. That sound, that vibration, he had felt it before. The memory of panic crept into his mind, riding on the waves of the vibrations. It was not just the feet whose pounding he remembered. It was his own heart's racing, a thought that hadn't occurred to him ever since it had stopped beating. When had it stopped? For that matter, when had it ever beat? He drew back from the stair railing.

"Still hesitant?" Red nodded. "That's alright." He turned, guiding Josh to a nearby door. Josh walked along, questioning the creature's motives. Red reached out and gently opened the door, pointing into the darkness within.

"What are you doing, Red?"

Josh leaned forward, peering in. "That's... the basement." Red gleefully raised a hand, shoving the boy down the stairs. "OW! SHIT!" The sounds of Josh's painful descent and subsequent cry of protest were lost in the sharp sound of the door slamming shut.

"What the hell, Red?" Pyramid Head took the first steps towards his comrade as the air raid siren sounded, its droning, mournful cry cutting through the air. PH lowered his knife from his shoulder, gripping it in both hands. "Explain yourself, damnit! Now!"

Red shrugged. "Can't. Gotta go." PH lurched forward, his steps growing heavy. The house began to transform, taking on red and brown colors that covered the house's interior. "I'll be sure to let that lazy, faceless bastard know that you can't be trusted." Red sidestepped PH's grasping, reaching arm, heading to the staircase. "Thanks for making my day difficult, by the way." Red ascended a few steps, leaping to cross a gap of broken-in, charred steps, the urgency of his movement doubled by the fact that they dissolved with the house's transformation. "I guess it's alright, though. Your life is about to get a hell of a lot more difficult than catching this little bitch could ever be."

PH stopped his struggling for a moment, staring up at Red. _"If she sees me, she'll know."_ It was true. But she would be caught by surprise for sure like this. Would she know just how wrong it all was? Would she even think that the boy was here? That Pyramid Head himself was here?

Red stumbled as PH's ear-shattering roar burst into the air. He looked back to the struggling man, a hand resting on the transforming stair railing. "What the-"

The girl poked her head out of one of the house's many upstairs doors. "PH?" Spotting Red, she quickly slammed the door shut, the lock clicking into place.

Pyramid Head pressed his knife to the floor, resting his weight on it as he attempted to free his feet. Something in the floor grasped at him, something he couldn't see. Whether it was the Otherworld's usual state in this house or Valtiel's own machinations, he didn't know. It was certain at this point. He had fallen from grace. A murderer, a merciless killing machine, an obviously ungodly abomination had fallen from grace. What depths awaited him?


	18. Chapter 18: Shot Down In Flames

The bindings, invisible as they were, held fast to PH's feet, creeping up his legs and tightening securely. In his growing desperation, he released the handle of his knife, reaching down to try and tear at that which leashed him. A roar of indignation left him, his hands tangled in the mess as well. Unable to balance, he fell onto his side, tied like a successfully wrangled and equally helpless calf.

Panic already had a foothold in his mind when Red had ascended the stairs, but now it grew into a dizzying storm, his eyes tracing rapidly around the room. Stainless light poured in from narrow horizontal slits in the walls, vague shades of grey indicating bars securing the windows. Whispers crept in on the beams of light, words and phrases reaching his senses. Talk of enemies, of violence, of despair, of hundreds of other things that he couldn't comprehend. The whispers couldn't reassure him with the comfort of knowledge. He only felt their meaning: a terrifying, dreamlike understanding that his life was about to drastically change.

Pyramid Head continued to struggle against the bindings. Where had his power gone? His dominance in this world had suddenly vanished without a trace, unwilling to return to him. Was this his punishment? His helmet wasn't enough anymore. Now, he was meant to truly suffer. The transformation had only been the beginning. What was it, though? What had he ever been before this horrid state of being? He was neither alive nor dead, neither strong nor weak. He cared nothing of outsiders. He cared everything for them.

He knew only one thing for certain now, though. He cared nothing for the creature who approached him, wanted nothing less for it than its complete destruction. She had bested him in the church already. He had felt her presence nearby again after that. As though she were some sickness that refused to leave, she now stood above him, staring down at him with a painted face. She was not so perfect as she had been before. Her face had grown twisted, the perfect, delighted expression painted on it smeared and distorted. He watched as she knelt down, placing a hand on his head. A sharp pain met his arm, sudden and cold. The creature stood up, a rusty hypodermic needle in her hand. As fire flew through his veins, she departed, ignoring his cries of agony and nightmarish confusion. He felt the gaze of hundreds upon him, eyes watching him from the walls. They were waiting for something. But what?

The bindings suddenly gave way, releasing his arms and legs instantly. Images sprang up around him as he scrambled to his feet, grabbing his knife's handle. A dazzling array of surgical lamps shone into his eyes, flashing metal drawing his attention. The window light flickered like candle light in a breeze, shapes hurrying past. Pyramid Head hefted his knife in his hands, waiting for the shapes surrounding him to act. The knife laid heavily in his hands, his body struggling to bear its weight. The shapes around him lashed out, swiftly running to land expertly shallow blows on his skin. Try as he might with his knife, it was far too slow to catch any except one unlucky creature. PH backed up, giving up and dragging his knife on the metal floor.

The beasts, in turn, closed in on him, sparks flying as they scraped their blades together. Punishment. That's what this was. But why was he being punished? What had he done wrong? He wanted nothing more than to kill. To kill them, to kill any he saw. His opponents lashed out again, burying him in a flurry of blades and hatred. PH lowered his head, blocking many of the attacks with it alone. He felt his blood flow down his skin, drenching him in fiery iron. He deserved it. All of it. He had disregarded the command of God's voice, and for that the punisher was being punished. The knives scraped together, producing more sparks. There would be pain, much more pain. More bloodletting. Maybe then he would learn his lesson. Maybe then he would recognize his master, his purpose, his sacred duty.

From above, ringing in his head harder than the attacks of the blades had been able to, a girl's scream drew his mind away from the bloody penance being inflicted on him. She needed him. He needed to reach her. Deserving or not, he didn't have time for this. Gripping his knife tightly, he hefted it up in defense. The weight was gone. It was his again. Beetles rushed in between the legs of his punishers, scuttling swiftly onto his feet. Up they climbed, their clawed feet finding the miniscule footholds of his kilt to cover him completely, taking on the shallow blows to themselves. The beetles bit into his skin, drawing out his fiery blood, draining him of the substance's influence. Their purpose served, the beetles fell off one by one, dropping dead to the floor. His muscles burning with the desire to spill his enemies' blood, PH swung wide, spraying the Scrapers' innards across the room. He relished the feel of their own burning blood splattering on his chest, the sound of droplets striking his helmet like soothing rain on a tin roof.

He had no master. His duty was of his own design, never to be decided by some feeble creature worshipped by lesser beings. As the stench of death began to spread in the room, he looked up, staring at the skeletal railing left where the stairs would have taken shape. His eyes traced higher, staring at the ceiling. Down again, they peered at the post supporting the stairs. He trudged closer, getting a good look at it all. Metal. All of it transformed into metal. No matter. With a grunt, he hefted his knife onto his shoulder, turning it and pointing it forward. There was no way to climb up. The gap was too wide, widened even further with the house's transformation. The only way to get up there was to bring it all down here.

With a heaving thrust, he shoved his knife into the wall, causing the structure to groan as its support began to give way. It was work that he didn't enjoy, work that brought on a sense of danger. Without much of an alternative, however, he stepped under the stairs, sending a screaming blow at the main support of the stairs. The structure buckled, its upper floor crashing down onto the first floor. Amidst the chaos and the shout of alarm from above, Pyramid Head stood motionless, waiting for it to end. The stairs gave way around him, that impassable hole in the stairs serving to protect him from the collapse. PH stepped out of the wreckage, Red tumbling down the floor-turned-ramp above, landing at his feet. He stared down at the smaller beast, watching as he held his head in pain.

Red stared back, groaning. "I was so close... So damn close... What happened to the floor?" As his arms left his head, settling on the floor in preparation to push himself up, the great knife plunged into his chest. He roared in pain, the crunch of his shattered sternum and collapsing ribs loud enough to hear amidst his cry. With a foot pressed to Red's helmet, PH settled his hands on the knife's dull and sharp edges, cranking it like a drill bent on drawing up more cries of anguish from the doomed creature. Red's arms flailed, trying to grab anything he could to get away from the knife. His resistance came too late, however, as he collapsed motionless.

PH yanked his knife out of the corpse, throwing it up onto the upper floor. It slid across the floor, stopping with a clank as it struck the railing. Now was not the time to sit around and wait for that creature to return. Now was the time to do what he felt he needed to do, to set himself to the task he had forgotten for too long. It had taken kindness to reawaken him to the duty he had chosen for himself, kindness that he would return now. Hand by hand, foot by foot, he ascended the wreckage of the stairs, his fused fingers managing to grip the crisscrossing metal floor. "Alessa! Hold on!"

His fingers stretched into the metal floor, grasping the carpet tightly. He stood up carefully on the floor, his jacket twisted and uncomfortable. One thing now blocked him from reaching his goal. That infernal woman. Why had he trusted her? Her brown hair, once so well-kept and smooth, now laid in a tangled mess on her head. Alessa cried out again, causing Dahlia to smirk. "It will happen soon. She's almost ready." She spread her arms to her sides. "Just a little longer. Then, God will-"

"I've heard enough of this cult! Step aside, damnit!" He swept his hand to the side. "Your God hasn't saved anyone! All it's done is twist you into... Into..." He grasped the air, searching for words. "Damnit, I don't even know you anymore! Who the hell am I for trusting you?"

"I was foolish!" She stepped closer, lifting a finger to point at him accusingly. "I begged and pleaded and wasted time speeding up your recovery!"

"You did NOTHING!" He lashed out, swinging his salvaged steel pipe at her. She stumbled back after a hard strike across her face. "Your beliefs, your god, it's all worthless!"

"Heretic! You'll burn in hell like all the others!"

"I don't have time for your dogma!" With another swing, she fell to the floor, knocked out. He hurried onward, following another cry from Alessa. His hand pressed against the door. "Hold on!" Quickly backing up, he charged forward, breaking the door off its hinges. There she was, pinned under her dresser. "Alessa? Are you okay?" He strode over to her with urgency. "Sweetie, talk to me!"

Alessa reached out desperately to him, whimpering. With a swift swing of his arm, he flung the dresser off, picking her up in his arms. "It's okay. Sweetie, it's okay, I'm here."

She cried into his shoulder, her breath catching in her throat. "Mommy was so mean! I was s-so scared! Don't leave again!" She shook her head quickly. He stroked a hand down her back, her arms wrapped tight around him. This was what he had wanted for so long. She was safe now, safe with him.

Author's Note: Hey guys, believe it or not, the character Josh is a real person. He's going to be writing the next chapter for himself, but his school schedule is pretty heavy right now, so expect delays! In the meantime, check out my other story, Silent Hill Babysitting Squad, to tide you over!


	19. Chapter 19: Hell Frozen Rain

Josh tumbled down the stairs, rolling head over heels into the basement, his chainsaw flying from his hand. He landed harshly in a foot of water that covered the floor, chilling him to the bone. From above, more water dripped down through the first floor, splashing across his glasses. The state of the floor above perplexed him. Flickering light shone down through the narrow slits between boards, as though everything were on fire despite the flow of water. Josh shook his head, grabbing his hat from the water where it floated nearby. Since when did Silent Hill actually have to make realistic sense? At the very least, the scant amount of unsteady light afforded him a bit of visibility in the otherwise pitch black room. His finger pressed to the flashlight's switch. The device gave him no reply, refusing to work. Josh lifted it to his ear. Just as he thought, water swished about inside.

Josh lowered the flashlight from his ear, looking about his surroundings. What he could see of the walls was little more than a moist glisten at the upper reaches, showing just how narrow the passage was. Below was only darkness. He blinked. He was in a narrow, labyrinthine otherworld... Without a weapon. Josh dropped to his knees, reaching into the water. A slithering, snake-like body writhed against his hands, looping about his thumb before he yanked them out, standing upright again. He could do without a weapon.

With the serpentine hints of a sewer monster still sneaking about his ankles, Josh reached out to one wall, settling his hands against it. Perhaps the best way to get through this would be to simply feel his way around. As the chill of the water left his hands, he realized the wall was not only moist, but also a soft, supple texture. Warm, too... Pulsating. Alive. Josh swallowed, furrowing his brow in determination. Silent Hill could go ahead and throw enemies at him all it wanted, but this was just weird and uncomfortable.

As he inched along the wall, his feet nudged in a bit further than the usual line of the wall's corner with the floor. Josh slid his hands down the wall, feeling around. A gap, about two feet tall, was just below the water's surface. Blue light flickered in the water through the gap, inviting him in. If anything was to give him hope in this dismal, silent place, that light would. After taking a moment to settle his nerves, he quickly ducked down into the water, stepped through the gap, then rose up from the water, taking in a gasp of air.

Before him on a rather antique wooden table of coarse wood and simple design sat a small television set, antennae rising from the top of the casing. The screen glowed with a steady stream of snow, lighting the alcove it sat in apart from the corridor. Josh stepped closer, watching the television. The longer he watched, the more the picture cleared up, eventually becoming only a slightly disrupted video of a female news reporter. The woman's lips moved, but no sound could be heard from her. Josh reached out, turning a knob on the old-fashioned television. He quickly turned it back the other way, preventing static from overtaking it again. Next, he grasped another knob, giving it a turn. The woman's voice grew in strength, fading into audibility.

"...are saying it was an accident due to a faulty boiler-"

Suddenly, the video skipped back a few seconds.

"-saying it was an accident due to-"

Josh watched, his brow lowering as the clip continued to backtrack, continue, and then cut itself off shorter and shorter for the sake of backtracking again. After a few moments, the television set repeated only a small phrase of the reporter's words.

"-it was an accident-"

"-it was an accident-"

"-it was an accident-"

"-it was an accident-"

"-it was an accident-"

"-it was an accident-"

Josh tilted his head, lifting a hand to give the television set a good smack. The screen went to snow yet again, the phrase continuing to repeat. Heartened by the meager reaction the device gave him, he struck it again. A hoarse growl sounded as his hand met the TV, causing him to spin around, eyes searching his surroundings. Josh lifted a brow, spotting nothing out of the ordinary in the extraordinary environment. He turned, giving the TV another smack. The device's sound cut out completely, leaving nothing but the snowy screen operational.

The sound of splashing water drew Josh's attention behind himself. Peering into the narrow corridor, he couldn't make anything out in the dim light, but he knew that didn't mean it was empty. With one last glance at the television, he turned and walked in the opposite direction from the splashing. As he walked, the splashing grew in tandem with his steps, creaking wood starting to accompany it as well. Josh quickened his pace, his steps growing hurried. The splashing increased in frequency, soon increasing to surpass his own. Josh broke into a run, spotting a door at the nearing end of the corridor. With a frantic grab, he grasped the doorknob, giving it a turn with his cold, wet hands.

Locked.

As the splashing steps grew closer, Josh looked around, spotting another narrow corridor to his right. He gave himself a smack to his forehead, setting off for what would hopefully be safety. Running with steps carefully paced to outrun those still behind him, he raised his brows at the sight of a chest of drawers at the end of the corridor. Giving himself no chance to slow down, he ran straight into the drawers, stopping only as the chest of drawers struck the wall behind it. Josh yanked the top drawer out first, finding it empty. He shoved it back in, yanking open the second. As the drawer opened, a key shuddered a bit inside, gleaming with an old brass patina. Josh snatched it out, giving the third and final drawer a check. He raised a brow at the underwear inside, but shoved it shut, running with abandon back to the locked door.

The splashes of water continued at a slow, shuffle-like pace behind him as he shoved the key into the door's keyhole. "Yes!" Josh grabbed the doorknob, giving it a rough turn and a hard shove forward, slamming it behind himself with his back against it. "What now? Can't get me in here, can ya?"

The door became soft and warm, enveloping Josh's back in the type of comfort only nine straight hours of relaxation can attain. Josh looked from the ceiling above him to his blurry clock, grabbing his glasses off his desk. Eleven o' clock, the red digits read. JJ looked over at his roommate in confusion, halfway through picking his clothes for the day in the dorm room the two shared. Josh looked up from his clock and to his roommate, pausing for a moment before frowning. "...Don't give me that look. You have NO IDEA what I just went through." JJ shrugged, picking out pants to go with his already selected shirt.

Josh sat up in his bed, sliding his fingers through his hair. _The hell? Did I dream all that? _He shivered a bit. _It felt so real._ Looking down, he realized his clothes were damp. _No... It was real._ Still, he was fairly certain he hadn't gone to Silent Hill in his pajamas. Just a night sweat, then. To be sure, he glanced out the window. Students walked around, going about their business along the sidewalk that was _not_ covered in blood and rust. The pavement was shining in the sunlight, wet with snow melting onto it. Despite his normal surroundings, Josh couldn't tame the feeling of how real it had all felt. He reached for his phone, scrolling through his contacts list until he found Jane's name. He pressed the call button, lifting it to his ear.

The earpiece rang once, twice, three times, reaching seven in no time. Josh glanced at the clock as the voicemail recording played, asking him to leave a message. She might not even be awake this early. At the beep, he looked away from the clock, focusing on what to say.

"Hey, Jane. It's Josh. Uhh, I feel like something _strange_ may have just happened. I'm not sure I can explain it. Just... give me a call as soon as you can, okay?" Confident that the message had recorded properly, Josh slid his phone shut, looking to the clock again. He had slept through his first two classes of the day already. He had to at least make it to his afternoon classes. First, though, it was time for lunch.

The university's cafeteria staff always did a good job on selection, and that day was no different. Barbecued chicken, the usual buffet of pizzas, stir fry, and hot dogs all provided a rich aroma to the room. Josh gave each dish a look, finding nothing sounded appetizing. How could it be? He had just been running around Silent Hill with bubble head nurses, pyramid heads, and Jane. It didn't exactly set him up to want food. He shook his head, finding a place to sit in the cafeteria. His school friends would come by eventually to get their lunches. Maybe then he would be hungry.

JJ arrived shortly, bearing a plate of stir fried vegetables. Next arrived Sarah, setting her purse beside JJ and her plate of chicken on the table. Ben eventually scooted in next to Josh, placing a glass of cola on the table. The group of friends settled into chatting about their days so far, when their last days of classes before winter break would be, and what their plans were for the night afterward. Josh kept up with the conversation as best he could, his mind still tired and fried from his supposed adventures.

As he sat in the booth, soaking up the normalcy of the situation, he felt a buzz from his pocket. Josh fished his phone out, taking a look at the screen before answering. Jane! He slid the phone open to answer, stopping himself from speaking as his ear filled with static. Josh paled, lowering the phone from his ear. The screen indicated to him a low battery, powering the phone down automatically.


	20. Chapter 20: Hole In The Sky

I watched the front door fall shut after Red zoomed out of it, smiling. "Well. That was easy." I looked around the house, checking each room I could reach, finding most of the doors locked. It was a modest, two-story house. Sections of the floor upstairs were missing, but I knew why. Fire had a way of weakening everything, of breaking it all down into brittle carbon. A nice, beefy trucker carrying any amount of weight would surely have fallen through it without a problem. I sighed a bit. Why did James have to be the one stuck here? Why couldn't Travis be here? Travis would have been cool with PH, since he himself was pretty cool.

The house wasn't completely burned down, though. Similar to my own house, the fire had spread in the upstairs, causing the roof to be the first thing gone, leaving a gaping hole everywhere a ceiling should have been. At least the fire that destroyed mine had been an accident, though. Even though it had been washed out and thinned with water from the hoses that had put the fire out, I could still see a human-shaped stain on the floor upstairs. I checked around the room containing the stain, finding little of immediate interest. Someone had definitely cleaned the place out.

Still, I wondered. The fire in my house had brought the roof down onto the second floor, decimating just about everything in my room. My sister's had been relatively spared since only part of her ceiling had collapsed. Despite the destruction, though, I had found a few less damaged relics in my room. My large desk had protected them from the fire, insulating everything just long enough for the fire to be put out, shielding them from the torrents of water that had poured onto the house. I stepped gingerly across the floor, respectfully stepping around the stain on the floor. A small chest of drawers sat against the wall, covered in char and ash. Perhaps it had protected some interesting secrets from the flames.

Sliding my bag around to rest on my lower back, I gave the top drawer a pull, jerking it a few times to get it open. A muddled mass of papers sat inside, fused together in a thick stack. I peered close at the faded words. Tax returns. I sighed, pushed the drawer shut and opened the next. The next was more interesting, containing legal documents concerning divorce. None of them had been stamped to signify being filed. They, too, were all stuck together in a thick board of paper. I pulled them out, placing them on top of the dresser. One drawer remained, to which I bent down to pull it open. After giving it some good yanks, it finally opened, falling out of its frame. I raised a brow, spotting a large brown envelope inside. I picked it out, opened it up, and slid the contents out. Alchemilla Hospital's letterhead greeted me on each page, printed along with billing information.

"Huh." I sat on the floor, paging through the sheets, glad that I had finally found something that wasn't impossible to read. I skimmed over the charges listed, searching for names, anything that I could ascribe real meaning to. "Respirator... Antibiotics..." I glanced around, making sure no one was nearby. Sure, I was talking to myself to keep things clear in my head, but it would still be embarrassing if anyone heard me. Certain that no one was near, I continued to read off the pages. "Progressive massive fibrosis." I frowned. "Buddy, I don't know what that is, but it doesn't sound good." I flipped through the rest of the pages, reaching the last. "Billed to Dahlia Gillespie..." I looked up at the other papers. "So this definitely is her house..." I pushed myself up from the floor, sliding the medical bills back into their envelope and placing them on top of the dresser. I picked up the divorce papers, peering closely at them. I had seen the amount of paperwork mum kept in a file at our house of her own divorce papers. This couldn't have been all of them. I sighed, unable to make sense of the faded words.

"I know what you're doing, by the way," I said to the empty air. "Seriously, it happens every time." I stuffed the envelope into my bag, leaving the divorce papers on the dresser. "You're gonna keep the name of this guy secret until the very end when I get to find out who he is. What, is he a boss or something? Do I have to fight him?"

Muffled noises replied to my query. I froze, ears tense. The noises continued, voices of some sort. I couldn't understand anything they said, though. Red! It must have been! I tiptoed around the stain, slipping quietly into another door. Strangely, it had been locked before. I glanced about my new surroundings. The remains of a bedroom. I closed the door quietly, pressing my ear to it. My body tensed up as I heard another door break open, slamming against the wall it was set into. I resettled my feet, making sure the soles of my shoes were gripping tight to the wood. Nothing nearby was big enough or the proper shape to wedge the door shut. Among the muffled tones, I heard one clear voice speak for only a second. Could it have been Josh? Who else in the town could speak properly? James?

...Walter? Valtiel? I furrowed my brow. I only had two ideas now. Either PH and Josh had found me, or Red had gone and gotten reinforcements. Josh would surely call for me. PH would surely try to get my attention. Red would only sneak around and try to corner me. Valtiel... Well, he would walk around on walls or something and act French while doing so.

I pressed my ear harder to the door. More of the muffled talking. Suddenly, a cry and a rhythmic series of bangs, as though something were rolling down stairs. I heard another yell from a clear voice. Whoever it was just got hurt. I backed up from the door, digging around in my bag. Whoever was hurting someone who could actually talk probably couldn't talk themselves. Either PH had decided to throw James down the stairs or Josh was in trouble. I pulled the handcuffs out of my bag, closing one cuff around the doorknob. I looked to the wall, spotting an exposed length of pipe running through the wall. Clasping the other cuff to the pipe, I backed up further, looking around the bedroom. I still had the hammer, but what if it wasn't Red? What if it was some other monster?

The muffled talking increased in volume, sounding angry and closer than before. I searched the room, finding all the wood to be too brittle and charred to use as a weapon. Then, I saw it. The most dependable weapon of the series, the most balanced piece of junk you could wield with two hands: a lead pipe. I yanked it out of the wall behind the remains of the bed, hefting it in my hands. Well, maybe it wasn't lead. Maybe it was more like steel or iron, but still. If Red's great knife hadn't been so heavy, I would have just grabbed that. I couldn't even lift it by myself, though. Instead, I did the next best thing: I shoved it out the window into the field outside, hidden in the tall grass and fog. Doing so had given me a great deal of satisfaction.

I cursed Red under my breath. I wouldn't even have to look for a new weapon if he hadn't taken mine. Or had he taken it? Maybe James had it. Either way, I figured the hammer would be best for now. I wrapped the pipe up on my bag's straps, securing it tightly. I looked around, peering over at the door. I'd be ready for him this time. This time, I wouldn't have to improvise. I'd have a plan!

What the heck was my plan? I glanced around, trying to think of one as the air raid siren began its slow, mournful call. The room began to heat up, flames slowly rising from the debris. I backed away into the center of the room, eyes glancing about. The flames clung to the wooden areas of the house. Unfortunately, that would soon include the floor. A plan. I needed a plan!

I brought my hands to my ears, covering them as a loud, angry, echoing roar struck me. Red could have made that sound. But no, it was familiar. I tiptoed to the door, deciding it was worth investigating. I gingerly opened the door, leaving the handcuffs in place. "PH?" I peeked out. Red turned his head to me, taking a step over. I slammed the door shut, locking it and backing away. The doorknob shook about, polite knocking accompanying it. I smirked, listening to him try to get my attention with a "Murr-huuurr?" I grabbed a piece of a nearby mirror, its glass long ago melted and brittle. I tossed it to myself once, testing the weight of the baseball-sized chunk, then threw it over the wall. With a satisfying crash, it shattered on metal, a pained groan following afterward.

"You didn't say the password!" He wouldn't stay stunned for long, though. I twirled my wrist, the hammer swooping through the air. How would I actually beat him? As in... Kill him? I didn't want to kill him. I didn't know why. He had already done plenty to warrant going ahead and doing him in, but I hated the thought of it. A quick method. I needed to do it quickly if I was going to do it at all. How to do it, though, I wasn't sure. Still, I decided I knew someone who might. I dug around in my bag, retrieving the radio and lifting it to my lips. "James! James, come in, it's Jane!"

A moment's wait, then he replied. "Mary?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, for god's sakes, no! James. It's Jane! Remember? The one in the nurse dress!"

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"What?" I paused a moment, shaking my head quickly. I'd figure it out later. "I don't-Y'know what, whatever. So is Red Pyramid Thing. How do I kill him?"

I watched as the lock on the door finally broke, Red's arms flailing and reaching in. I stormed over to the door, giving one of his hands a good whack with the hammer. He roared in pain, withdrawing. "...You don't."

"What?" Red roared, reaching in again. I backed up, too busy with the radio. "What do you mean, I don't? Come on, James-" Red roared in rage as I said the name, his reaching growing frantic. "Damnit. James, come on, I need your help! Is there anything I can do at all?" Red screamed, a yowling, hoarse cry. His hands wrapped tightly around the link of the handcuffs, pulling hard. I charged forward, slamming myself into the door. With a sobbing sort of cry, Red withered back in retreat, his wrists having cracked against each other.

"Jane? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, now what do I do?" I pressed my body against the door, watching the doorknob jiggle more. I grabbed hold of it, the hammer clenched against the knob in my hand.

"Run. Just run, as long as you possibly can."

"Got it. How can I distract him?" Red screamed again in frustration, trying with all his might to turn the doorknob.

"You're a woman, he's a pyramid thing! You figure it out!"

I frowned, wedging my feet against the floor to hold the door shut as Red began pushing on it again. The door pressed further, an arm lashing around to grab for anything he could get his hands on. I jerked away as his hand grasped at my neck, crying out as his hand flailed down to my collar. The dress's zipper pushed down, jamming on a loose thread. Red giggled, apparently well aware of what he was doing. "Damnit!" I lifted the radio again. "How would I distract him with myself while running... Y'know what, nevermind. I'll talk to you again someday, James."

"What? What are you-"

I rolled away from his hand against the door, keeping it shut as best I could. "Keep talking, James." I turned my head a bit to the door. "There goes James!" With that, I flung the radio over the wall, into the darkness of the empty sky above, hearing it clatter to the floor in the next room. James kept calling for me, his voice growing more and more tense. I pressed my ear to the door. Sure enough, I heard Red stomp off to follow James' voice into the next room. No sooner did I give myself a victory fist pump than I felt the floor shudder, the entire floor tilting. "What the hell?" Tilting? I grabbed onto the pipe in the wall. My grip failed, my hands too smooth with ash, sending me hurtling into the wall with a yell of confusion and pain. The wall broke open, my senses barely aware of what was happening as dizziness set in. Through the next room I flew, striking a solid wall. From across myself, I saw a chest of drawers slide an inch before tumbling end over end, landing on top of my legs.

My vision blurred, my mind scrambling to figure out what was going on. The flames crept closer, the smoke billowing around me. I thought I had been outside the house during the fire... The fire that had taken my room, my clothes, my art... I found myself trapped inside. Dad was home during the fire, though! Dad would find me! "Dad!"

"Jane! Hold on!"

I tried to shift under the weight of the drawers, pinned in too awkward a position to be able to move it. I knew my father would come! He was coming to save me! I couldn't last long, though. The heat, the smoke, the weight of the drawers, all of them choked me all at once, whether it was my throat or my veins. "Dad! Hurry!" The flames devoured the walls faster, chunks of debris falling everywhere. My father suddenly burst into the room, the door flung to the floor.

"Jane!" I reached up to him, whimpering in pain. Dad reached down, flinging the dresser off my legs. He turned, pulling me up from the floor and into his arms. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... This is my fault... I left the heat gun on..." I cried into his shoulder, my fear and my joy of escaping the nightmare overcoming me.

"No, dad, it was an accident!" I shook my head quickly against him. The flames suddenly died, the smoke nonexistent. I breathed in a sigh of relief, the air fresh again. "It's all okay now..." I smiled, still trembling. "You wouldn't let anything happen to me, would you?" I turned my head to look up at my father. My head struck a hard metal plate. My breath caught in my throat, hands pressing to my father's back. Bare skin, only barely warm to the touch. His hand, set on my back, stopped its gentle, soothing rub. In unison, we released each other, taking a step back. PH stared down at me, just as motionless as I was.


	21. Chapter 21: Struggle Between Realities

Pyramid Head looked down at me. I looked up at Pyramid Head. For some reason, my behind had a bit of pain to it. "Ah-HAH!" I backed up a couple steps, pointing at him. "I should've known better!" PH leaned back, lifting his hands. "Playing innocent all along! What're you really up to, mister?" He waved his hands from side to side, shaking his head as he mumbled his garbled nonsense. "Whatever!" I shoved past him, smacking the moldy door out of my way as I stepped out of the room. The house was unfamiliar again, yet only in the sense that I hadn't lived there all my life. I felt as though I had been woken up during a dream. Maybe I had been too harsh. Maybe I was wrong about what had happened. Was it a nightmare I had been having that he had simply rescued me from? I pressed a hand to the small of my back where his had been moments ago. His hands were big and stiff just like my father's. They were used to work. I sighed as my heart sank. Dad... I wished he were there. But even then, he probably wouldn't have been of much help. He never even got upset for my sake.

"PH." I heard him give a curt grunt of acknowledgement. "C'mon. Let's find Josh and get out of here." I patted my bag a bit, feeling what all was inside. Health drinks that had mysteriously appeared in place of food, a first aid kit that had taken the place of my bandages, and my phone were there, but there was a difference now. Something was missing while something had been added. Something large and square. I lifted the flap of my bag, pulling out the item in question. A moldy envelope, once a warm shade of tan, sat in my hands. I opened it up, pulling out the papers inside. After a quick read, I looked back to PH, who remained sulking in the room. "Hey. What's progressive massive fibrosis?" He perked his head up, turning to look at me. "Sound familiar at all?" He gave a shrug, tilting his head. I tucked the envelope back into my bag. "Another mystery, I guess. This town's full of them."

The two of us looked down the hall, hearing the familiar static of a radio. At least we knew where it was now. What it was alerting us of, however, was still unknown. I gestured down the hall, beckoning PH to follow. Just as we were about to take our first steps, another noise caught us by surprise. From down the hall, a strangled sort of moan muffled its way through the doors. "Oh, good," I remarked, sighing.

Across the tilted, broken floor, the two of us inched towards the noise, realizing it was coming from behind one particular door. I lifted a hand to the doorknob, grasping it tightly. Just as I was about to turn the knob, I yanked my hand back, shaking my head. "What the hell am I doing?! You're never supposed to open a creepy door!" I looked to PH. "You do it!" PH growled, muttering as he pointed to himself and eventually to me. I sighed, turning back to the door. "Fine." I grabbed the knob and gave it a twist, yanking the door open. Acid spewed from the room at me, sending me reeling back in pain as the acid ate away at my skin. Thankfully, the foul substance dripped off quickly, falling to eat at the floor instead. I looked back into the room, spotting the monster.

The monster was of a rather average size, about as tall as a full grown man if it were to stand upright. Its feet were protected by tall dark boots, perhaps of leather but appearing more like darkened flesh. At its knees, a tunic similar to Valtiel's reached down, covering its body from the knees to its hands, covered completely by the long sleeves of the garment. Its head remained a mystery, covered by a damp-looking hood. The acid I had been struck with dribbled down the creature's back from the hood, trickling down its back to its... stomach. The whole creature was twisted at the waist as though it had been born with a backward lower half. "Fucking gross." I watched as the monster crept forward with its feet, its robed hands desperately trying to cling to the floor and the surrounding wreckage.

PH positioned himself beside the door, his knife raised and ready as the monster made its way towards the doorway. Seemingly set on me, its ignorance to its surroundings became its downfall; it paid so little attention to anything else that the great knife swung down like a guillotine, bisecting the creature at the waist. I raised my hands to shield my eyes from the spray of blood. A good, clean kill. Still, to be sure, I stepped over and gave it a good kick to each remaining half.

With the creature taken care of, I stepped around its corpse, looking into the room. The radio static continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the monster was clearly dead. I picked the device up from a pile of ash, dusted it off, then gave one of the dials a turn. A familiar voice soon came into focus. "-God, it's just like before, what do you want from me? I know your purpose but I didn't mean to kill them! I had to protect myself! Why should I feel guilty about-"

"James?"

"Mary!"

I frowned. "...It's Jane. What's going on? What are you talking about?"

With a heavy sigh and a long pause, he finally explained. "I thought for sure he had gotten you... The red one..."

"Huh?" I stopped, clarity returning in a rush. The red one? The Red Pyramid Thing! Of course! He had been after me. I lifted a hand to my head, rubbing my right temple. The realization of what had just happened seemed to have brought back my headache as well. "Oh!" I looked back to PH, seemingly fuming as he stared at the radio. "Yeah. No, I'm alright. I just... I think I hit my head or something."

"Where are you now, anyways? Things are getting dangerous here... I think it'd be good if we stuck together."

I frowned. "Not sure, actually... But I think we need to head to Alchemilla. Found some papers from there, so it's worth a look."

"I'll start heading over. Be careful out there, Jane. I think more monsters are roaming around now. Sunderland out."

"More monsters?" I clipped the radio onto the collar of my dress, looking up at PH. "What do you think that means?" He shrugged, grunting. "Well, whatever. Just means we'll have to fight more." I turned towards the collapsed stairs, ignoring PH's scoff. "So where's Josh? Did he come in with you?" PH nodded quickly, starting on a trudge towards the stairs. After he carefully climbed down, I jumped down after, allowing him to catch me and place me back on my feet. Clearly visible from above had been a large stain of blood on the floor, smeared towards the door as though a bloody corpse had been dragged out. Standing beside it, I tilted my head. "This looks sort of familiar." I looked towards the door. "What's it from?"

PH went into a fit of charades, first pointing at the blood stain. Grunting the entire time, he then appeared to signal that he had danced on that spot, sat down, then stood up, swung his knife around, shoved it into the floor, attempted to drill through the floor, and then sighed deeply in relief. I raised a brow. "Okay." PH's shoulders slumped, disappointed yet again by my observations. He turned, beckoning me to follow. With a few steps for him and several for me, we arrived in front of a door, hanging ajar on its hinges. "So what's here?" I peered into the doorway, finding it to be the basement door. PH grunted, pointing in. "You first. I hate the dark." PH turned his head, staring at me for a moment before reaching out, hoisting me onto his shoulder, and trudging down the stairs. "Hey, at least I'm honest!" As we descended into the basement, I heard the rustling of water around PH's feet. "Huh? It's flooded?" He nodded slightly, letting out a loud roar into the darkness. I tried to turn a bit, adding my own calls for Josh. The basement was too dark to see any details, but the sense of touch was still viable. After nudging something in the water, PH bent down, pulling it out. I looked back to see. "His chainsaw..." I shook my head. "Alright. Come on, let's go back up."

After ascending the stairs, I pulled my phone from my bag, searching quickly through my list of contacts. Finding Josh's number, I gave it a call. Once... Twice... Seven times the other line rang without an answer. I couldn't help but be relieved, though, that his phone still seemed to work. After being prompted to leave a message, I cleared my throat. "Josh. Pyramid Head and I are at the house... We looked around for you and called, but we couldn't find you, so... Look, when you hear this, get over to Alchemilla. We're going to meet James there. I found some papers, and I think they might be important. Call back if you can. And for shit's sake, be careful!" I paused, trying to think of something more to say, but lowered the phone and pressed the end call button. "I hope he's okay..." PH patted my head, mumbling a bit. "Well... Shall we?"


End file.
